


Defection

by RegaLasagna



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Current Charming Queen/Evil Charming, Domestic Violence, Emma doesn't have magic, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Focus on Plot, Implied Charming Queen, Mystery, Once upon a time (tv) - Freeform, Plot, Rape/Non-con - Freeform, Rape/Non-con Elements, Romance, Slow Burn, Swan Queen - Freeform, The Enchanted Forest, Trigger Warnings, Vulnerable Evil Queen | Regina Mills, f/f freeform, i don't know how to tag, m/f freeform, queen regina - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:01:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 37,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26029147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegaLasagna/pseuds/RegaLasagna
Summary: A twisted enchanted forest AU. Trigger warnings for heavy themes, whump etc. Don't like, don't read... Implied/Established CharmingQueen, Eventual SwanQueen.Regina is trapped in a loveless marriage. At the age of 18, the King proposed to her, but no one knew why. She couldn't figure out why out of all noblewomen he would choose her, the daughter of an ordinary nobleman, to be his bride?This is the most I can summarize without revealing any spoilers... I'm terrible at summaries sorry.(The, plot, is EVERYTHING. I suck at summarising but there is more to this story than what meets the eye, and I'm actually proud of how it all turned out :D)Loosely inspired by The Cellar, fanfic of LovingOnce.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Prince Charming | David Nolan
Comments: 32
Kudos: 88





	1. The Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is an AU, which stands for Alternate Universe. The storyline differs extremely from the show. The only similarity is that this story is set in the Enchanted Forest. Regina is a young queen, consort of King Leopold, and step-mother of 18-year-old Snow.
> 
> I only own the original characters. I do not own any of the characters on Once Upon A Time. If I owned them SwanQueen would've been endgame years ago.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING for Graphic Violence/Torture/Rape. I cannot censor anything because if I did that, the majority of the story won't make much sense. Please don't read this fic if you are uncomfortable of any of these elements.
> 
> This story is eventual Swan Queen. The plot has already been solidified. Every action, every detail and every ship has its purpose.
> 
> This fic was originally written in my native language years ago, I wrote it as a form of catharsis and came back to it whenever I wanted to vent, and it gradually took shape. This fic has been complete for some time now and I finally had the courage to translate it, and release it to the public.
> 
> English is not my native language, and I really suck at using it, therefore I decided to focus on the plot rather than beautifying the words. I'm sorry that the writing sounds bland, but I promise you, the plot would make up for my poor language skills!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! This is my first fanfic, so I'd love to have reviews on what you think and what I can improve on!
> 
> You can find me on Archive On Our Own under the same username – RegaLasagna. The story is cross-posted over there as well.
> 
> This fic was loosely inspired by The Cellar, fanfic of LovingOnce.
> 
> Enjoy! ~RL

A chestnut steed raced through the forest, a dark-haired woman on it. War is approaching, but that is not what she cares about at this moment. Riding to the highest slope, Regina peered into the distance. The mountains stretched far and the tree canopies seemed endless, but the setting sun in the distance told her that she was heading in the right direction. If everything goes well, in no more than three days she would finally be through this forest, and across the border.

Regina folded up the parchment map in her hand and put it in the leather pocket on the horse's saddlebag. The moment she lowered her head, a small bead of sweat slid down the back of her neck and into the collar of her brown riding jacket, a gust of mountain wind blew through, making her shiver.

It was getting late, and the dense canopies seemed to be absorbing the light, speeding up the approach of night. It would be more ideal to find a place to rest, but Regina was in a hurry and decided to go further.

Suddenly, the horse jumped anxiously and almost bucked her off of its back. Regina grabbed the saddle and stabilized herself. Alerted, her dark brown eyes began to scan her surroundings.

A rabbit sprang out of the bushes and ran passed her steed. The dark-haired woman breathed a sigh of relief and watched it disappearing into the bushes before changing her mind, deciding that it could be an easy dinner. She gently clamped her legs and urged her horse on, "Quick, follow it!"

The rabbit was fast. But fortunately, Regina had one of the best horses in the entire kingdom. With the sound of the wind whistling in her ears, and the impact of branches hitting on her shoulders, the rabbit was getting closer and closer. Suddenly, a white shadow shot into their path like lightning. Her horse neighed in fright and reared. Regina didn't have time to grab the saddle this time and was thrown to the ground. Hitting her head on a tree stump, the brunette was momentarily dazed. Lying on the ground, the last thing she heard before fading into unconsciousness was the gradually fading hoofbeats as her horse galloped away.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Regina came to with a start. With no branches obscuring the night sky, the Milkyway shined like an oil painting on a dark blue canvas. The sight caught her off guard and she was dumbfounded, confused as to where she was.

If not for the feeling of crispy leaves under her and the smell of the damp surroundings, the brunette would've thought that she was already out of the forest. Regina scrunched her forehead, trying to recall what had happened.

Memories flashed through her mind. The rabbit, the white shadow, the fall… she turned around. She was in a clearing in the woods, a strong black steed was tied to a tree not far away, but it wasn't hers.

A bonfire was lit five or six steps away from her, and a skinned rabbit was roasting on the bonfire, emitting a strong fragrance.

Regina tried to sit up, but a sudden dizziness made the action extremely difficult. She touched the back of her head and winced when her fingers found a huge bump along with a certain stickiness, it was blood.

"You hit your head." In the darkness, a low voice startled her so much her heart felt like it would jump out of her chest.

"Who's there?" she asked, trying hard to prop up half of her body, her voice hoarse from tension and fear. The speaker took a few steps closer to her and walked into the firelight. A tall and lean man wearing clothing made of animal skins came into view, his messy blond hair peeking out under his fur hat, and the stubble of the same color on his face made him look more beastly than humane. "I checked your wound, it's just a surface injury and will be fine after a night's rest."

A white shadow came out from behind the man. It was a huge wolf with white fur. Regina was taken aback. It was the wolf who had scared her horse away.

"Don't worry, as long as you don't hurt him he won't bite." The man said, reaching out his hand to stroke the white wolf's head. The white wolf sat on its haunches and stuck out its tongue. At the man's feet, the ferocious beast was as gentle and loyal as a domestic dog.

Regina was speechless. She watched the man sit down on a rock by the campfire and took the roasted rabbit off its fork, he took out a sharp rapier and in one swift motion cut off a hind leg, tossing it beside the dark-haired woman, "Hurry up and eat." He said, chewing on another rabbit leg and throwing the rest to the white wolf.

_You shouldn't take food from a stranger Regina,_ she reminded herself, but her hunger outweighed her cautiousness as the delicious scent wafted through the air. She picked up the rabbit leg and tried a small bite, then took another bigger bite. It was really good. She had to admit to herself that this was the best meal she had had for the past few days.

However, it didn't take long before Regina vomited all the food she had eaten.

The man glanced at her as the brunette tried to figure out how to wipe her mouth gracefully. "It seems that you fell harder than I thought," he said flatly, the single sentence portraying how little he cared, as if he was just describing a fact.

Regina held her aching head and glared at him angrily. This was this person who caused her to fall off her hors. And had it ran away. Almost everything she had was in the saddlebag. How could she cross this forest alone _and_ penniless?

"What is your name?" The dark-haired woman asked, trying to be as calm as possible.

"I am a hunter."

"A hunter is a profession, not a name." Regina couldn't help rolling her eyes, hoping that the darkness of the night could hide her impatience.

"What do you want girly."

"How dare you call me girly?" Regina was about to lash out but she took a deep breath and reined in her emotions, "My horse was scared away by your pet. So _you'll_ have to find a way to help me go through this damn forest."

The hunter stared at her as if she were joking. "Your horse abandoned you, and you hit your head because your riding skills weren't good enough. None of these were my fault. On the contrary, I saved you and gave you food."

Regina didn't know what to say. It wasn't because the man was making sense, but in such a situation, arguing with him will get her nowhere. As for food, a half-full stomach made the brunette felt even more frustrated. However, there was no meat nor bones left. She sat on the ground, pouting, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her chin on her arms. Her appearance made the brunette looked younger than her age. Perhaps the hunter was moved by her genuine helpless expression. He turned around and reached into the cloth bag he carried, rummaging through it for some time before taking out a halve of a stiff piece of bread wrapped in some paper. It was thrown at the brunette's feet. "Eat slowly, and try not to throw up anymore, this is the last I have."

Regina grabbed the suspiciously colored bread and bit in without any hesitation. The hunter threw a few more sticks into the bonfire to make it burn more vigorously, then laid down next to the fire and leaned against the white wolf.

The black-haired woman finished the bread in a few quick bites and watched the hunter's slightly undulating back as he steadily breathed. She doesn't dare to sleep so she leaned against a nearby tree, arms hugging her chest, and holding a small dagger with a tight grip. She planned to sit through the night like this, but with the bump on her head throbbing along with the sound of crackling fire, darkness fogged around the edge of her vision and Regina fell unconscious quickly.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

The neigh of a horse waked her, and this time when she woke up, it was already dawn. Regina rubbed her sleep crusted eyes, and through the thick morning mist, she saw that the hunter had already gotten up. He was packing up and about to mount the horse, obviously ready to set off.

The brunette quickly stood up and walked over, a burst of pain in right her ankle making her stumble. Apparently her head wasn't the only injury she had obtained.

"Where are you going?" She asked anxiously, ignoring her pain.

"Hunting." When the hunter replied, he did not stop packing.

"Then what about me?" Regina looked around. She knew that she couldn't walk through this forest on her own.

The hunter turned his head and glanced at her, then lift his hand and pointed to the east. "If you walk in this direction for half a day, there will be a small road. If you are lucky, you'll meet some villagers picking mushrooms or merchants passing by and turn to them for help."

Regina refused the plan as soon as it was proposed. "No, I am traveling west."

The hunter snorted, his tone of disapproval irritating Regina, "It will take at least three to five days to walk through these woods, and that was when by horse," he peered at the brunette's injured ankle. "Moreover, the west of the forest is the border, with an ongoing war. Even if you successfully pass through the forest it's still suicidal to go there."

"You needn't worry about my safety, As long as you get me through the woods and find the person I seek, I will give you whatever you desire," Regina said confidently.

The hunter openly laughed, showing his neat white teeth. "You? Girly, what can you give me? You don't have anything except for this outfit on you."

Regina ignored his ridicule, "Why are you hunting?"

"I'm a hunter, what should I do if I don't hunt? Sew?"

"A rhetorical question is not an answer."

"Well, I'll tell you since you seem to care so much, I have been following a leopard for days. Its skin is worth a fortune. With the money, I wouldn't have any trouble in winter. I would not escort a pampered young lady to some border miles away and lose my prey."

"As long as you take me to the border, I can give you three times the money of the leopard skin, no, five times!"

The hunter was suddenly wary, "Why are you so eager to get to the border… do you have an ulterior motive?" The kingdoms were at war. Perhaps spies eager to pass information would choose to abandon the public roads, and instead go through the manless woods.

Regina understood what he meant and crossed her arms. "Do I look like a spy?"

"No one stipulates that attractive women can't be spies. On the contrary, this is their usual method." The hunter's straightforwardness surprised the brunette, but on the bright side, he thought she was attractive, which was to her advantage. Regina abruptly switched her attitude and smiled prettily, "Do not worry, I carry nothing but the clothes on my back."

The hunter seemed to be dumbfounded, and Regina resisted the urge to smirk. Men, no matter a noble prince, a brave and combative knight, or this rude hunter, could not resist her beauty. No man except for her husband could.

Thinking of the old man, Regina strengthened her determination to leave. She took a step closer to the hunter, getting dangerously close, and murmured softly, "Be my guide, and I can fulfill your any request. " She repeated the last two words slowly, brown eyes flashing with temptation and attracting the hunter's hazel ones, making him unable to divert his gaze. Those eyes… they look familiar, Regina felt a sense of deja vu, and was slightly startled.

Suddenly, the white wolf lying nearby sat up, and the hunter became alert. He pushed Regina away as both of them heard the thundering stomp of horses coming closer.

It was the sound of men, not a beast, and the hunter relaxed. But Regina began to panic, because in addition to the sound of horses, she heard the distinct sounds of armor clashing. It was cavalry.


	2. The Guide

As the hoof steps approach, Regina grabbed the hunter's arm and because of her panic, she completely forgot that she was trying to seduce him. Her voice trembled of urgency and fear, "Please don't tell them you met me, please don’t." not wasting time to hear a response, she turned and plunged into the thick bushes nearby as the hunter stared.

The hunter barely had a chance to comprehend Regina’s words before the horses came into sight. Sure enough, they were five soldiers in polished armor. The leader, a muscley man, trotted up and scrutinized at the hunter. Then pointed at his nose with the long whip in his hands.

"You, boy, have you seen a woman passing through these woods?"

Through the gaps in the bushes, Regina stared at the hunter nervously. She couldn’t find his answer from his emotionless face and only felt her heartbeat speeding up. She dare not look again. Closing her eyes, the brunette dipped her head and took a few deep breaths, one hand tightly squeezing the dagger around her belt as another pressed hard against her chest, as if this would make her heartbeat slow down. Then, she heard the hunter's dry voice, "A woman? Care to elaborate?"

"She is dark-haired, twenty-something, very beautiful, and rides a chestnut mare."

After a short silence, the hunter said: "Yesterday I saw a woman picking mushrooms. She has dark hair and is in her twenties. She is definitely not beautiful, nor does she ride a horse."

The soldiers glanced at each other and all agreed that this woman was definitely not the one they were looking for.

"Sir, could you tell me who this woman is and why you are looking for her?"

"You don't need to know that, brat, but you must tell us immediately if you see this woman." After speaking, the leading knight waved his riding crop impatiently, and addressed his team, "Let’s go! We cannot let her cross this forest."

"Why don't split up so it’s easier." Someone suggested.

"She must be going west, and the only way to cross the woods and to the the border is to the west." After speaking, there whipping sound, and the sound of galloping gradually faded as the group left. 

Regina stumbled out from under the bushes when the forest was quiet again, "Thank you." She said softly.

The hunter stared at her suspiciously: "The dark-haired woman, it’s you isn’t it?”

Regina nodded.

"Those people are the king's guards, why are they chasing you? What have you done girly?”

"How do you know they are the king's guards?" Regina couldn't help asking. Most people only know that soldiers were soldiers, and they cannot differ the specific group they come from.

"Their horses carried his majesty’s badge, I know that badge." The hunter explained vaguely, then turned around to organize his belongings.

"Why did you help me?" Regina blurted out.

The hunter didn't turn his head, he snorted, "Didn't you just beg me to?"

"But I didn't expect that you would really hide me from them."

"It's not all because of you," the hunter turned his head and glanced at her briefly. "I hate those self-righteous guys."

Regina raised her eyebrows. She couldn't refute this, and in fact, didn't want to refute it. No one knew better than her how much those knights liked to oppress ordinary people in the name of the king.

The hunter mounted his horse, and the white wolf stood up and followed him. Regina stayed where she was, not knowing where to go. Suddenly, the dark horse stopped. The hunter turned around and waved at her impatiently, "Hurry up, do you expect me to carry you onto the horse?"

Regina was stunned for a moment, and ran over limping. She grabbed the hunter's outstretched arm and straddled the horse's back with a struggle.

"Hiya!" With a call, the dark horse resumed galloping.

"Where are we going?" the dark-haired woman asked through the whistling wind.

"Cross the forest to the border," the hunter said loudly, "as you wish, girly!”

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Regina was sitting on the horseback with her hands wrapped around the hunter's waist to keep her balance. She didn't want to fall off the horse again and surprisingly, the smell of the man was better than she expected.

The hunter continued to express curiosity about her identity, so Regina told him that she was the queen's maid and stole her highness’s belongings.

"You are brave but stupid, what did you steal?" the hunter asked curiously.

"Just some earrings, a ring and a bracelet. Anyway, it doesn't matter what I stole now, because they have disappeared along with my horse."

The hunter laughed, "Perhaps I should’ve left you to find your horse."

The dark-haired woman didn't reply. She still couldn’t understand why the hunter would suddenly change his mind to help her, but she had no other choice. _One step at a time_ , she assured herself silently.

At noon, the sun came out, and the temperature rose. The hunter took off his fur hat, revealing his golden hair, long and heavy and in messy curls. Several strands flew to Regina's eyes and brushed against her cheeks gently.

Regina turned her face to avoid these small distractions, and then thought of the thick beard on the hunters face. _Thick like a lion’s mane._ She couldn't help but thought.

They stopped by a lake in the forest. The hunter got off the horse first, and when Regina tried to get off as well, he reached out and helped.

The brunette squatted by the lake and cupped some water in her hands, drinking some and washing her face. She watched as the hunter tie the horse to a dead tree nearby, then took off a bow and arrow from the horse’s back, seemingly wanting to go to the woods to hunt for lunch.

"Aren't you afraid that I’ll secretly steal your horse?" Regina couldn't help asking.

The hunter didn't even look at her: "With your riding skills? Not at all."

These words made Regina furious. She stared bitterly at the hunter and the white wolf as they disappeared from her field of vision. The brunette then immediately stood up and tried to get close to the dark horse chewing on the grass. Regina didn't really want to steal the horse because even with a horse, without her map, she still couldn't get out of this humongous forest. She just wanted to prove her riding skills.

Hearing footsteps, the dark horse raised his head, and Regina cautiously approached, reaching out and trying to grab the reins. The black horse immediately turned around, bucked, almost kicking the woman in the face. The dark-haired woman was taken aback and quickly jumped away. With this movement, the pain of her right ankle became worse. _If it weren't for my injury_ , she thought angrily _, I would’ve taught you a lesson._ She was unclear if it was the dark horse she was thinking to or its owner.

Regina sat down by the lake again and took off her footwear with difficulty. Her right ankle was swelling up, and the purplish color was not a good sign. She soaked her leg in the cold lake water and as expected, the pain eased a bit. The noon sun warmed her skin and her scalp felt a little itchy, she touched it and sighed, _the blood, of course_. She looked back at the depths of the dense and quiet forest. _The hunter might not be coming back so quickly,_ she mused. Perhaps she had the time to take a quick bath. After all, she didn't want flies to settle in her hair.

With that thought, Regina acted. She quickly took off her clothes and loosened the leather cord holding her hair. Soon she was naked except for the necklace around her neck, and she jumped into the water. The sun was warm, and the cool lake water was soothing, like a balm to her wounds.

The horse looked at the woman in the lake while chewing the grass in his mouth, and seemed to be a little confused about what is happening. Regina ignored her only audience. She spread her arms and let herself float in the lake, the water rippling like a gentle hand, caressing her skin. The bright sunlight made her close her eyes, and the water covered her ears, she saw nothing, heard nothing. _Even if it's only for a minute_ , Regina thought, _Just a minute to forget everything, just for now. Like a baby floating in their mother's womb, immersed in calm nothingness._

More than a minute must’ve passed because when Regina opened her eyes, she discovered that she had more than one audience by the lake. The hunter was standing there motionless, staring at her, a drooping pheasant in his hand — their lunch, apparently.

The dark-haired woman panicked a little, but the feeling passed quickly, and she doesn’t feel ashamed anymore. _Now that I‘ve already hinted that I’ll satisfy whatever he desires, what is the difference sooner or later?_ She thought lazily.

"What are you looking at, hmm?" She asked knowingly as she slowly swam to the shore. The water level moved down, and more and more of the brunette’s smooth skin was exposed to the sun. Her pink nipples stood proudly in the cool breeze, countless drops of water hung on her delicate skin, shining like diamonds with dazzling light, too beautiful for people to look at.

The hunter still hadn’t moved, his eyes were fixed on her chest. Regina could detect his heavier and heavier breathing from the movement of his chest. She couldn't help smirking. Her charm had never failed her. But as she approached, she felt something was amidst, because she felt that the emotion flooding the hunter's eyes was not of straining desire, but a more complicated one that she found hard to interpret.

She stood in front of the hunter, still smiling flirtatiously, and tentatively placed her right hand on the hunter’s cheek, gently rubbing his stubble. "I heard that a man with thick body hair is particularly powerful in a certain aspect, if this is the case…?"

Her words finally registed with the hunter, and he pushed her hand away as if awaking from a bad dream. The hunter turned around to pick up the clothes that the dark-haired woman had taken off on the shore, and thrusted them into her arms roughly. "If you still wantmy help take care of your clothes from now on!"

Regina was dumbfounded. The words felt like a slap to her face. She clutched her clothes and stood there in astonishment, shame and resentment coloring her face. No one has ever rejected her, except for her husband, a _man_ who only had his dead wife and precious daughter in his heart, the _man_ who never treated his current wife with seriousness. No one but him had resisted her before. She dressed herself numbly.

The hunter quickly skinned and gutted the pheasant, lit a fire, and roasted it. After a while, the rich aroma filled the air. He divided the roast pheasant into three, threw one portion at Regina's feet, one portion to the white wolf, and ate the remaining portion. During the whole process, no one said a word.

When they were packing up and ready to move again, the hunter spoke suddenly, "Five hundred gold coins."

"What?" The brunette didn't understand the sudden break of silence.

The hunter avoided her gaze, "I am not interested in sleeping with a stranger. When you cross the border, I want five hundred gold coins. Deal?"

Regina nodded slowly, "Deal."


	3. The Slut Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a warning in case someone skipped the story summary and the tags——this story is dark and twisted and full of trigger warnings of heavy stuff like rape, abuse, and torture. Writing is a form of catharsis for me, but it might not be good for everyone. Please don’t read this story if you are easily triggered by these elements.

The rest of the journey was mostly in silence. Surrounded by trees that looked the same, Regina had already given up distinguishing the direction of the west, but the hunter directed his horse through the forest easily.

Finally, before dusk, they stopped in a clearing and it was time to settle for the night. Regina kept her hair loose, thick dark strands had long since dried from the wind, but she left them draped over her shoulders. She sat on a tree stump and watched quietly as the hunter gathered firewood and built a simple stove with a few stones. Then, he took an iron pot from the horse's back and set it on top of the stones.

Just when he was concentrating on using flint and steel to light the fire, Regina leaped forward. The hunter’s back was turned so he was caught off guard and knocked to the ground: "What are you doing-" There was a cold feeling against his neck, and he shut his mouth abruptly and eyed the hand gripping the sharp dagger.

Regina rolled over and straddled him, the dagger still pressed against the hunter's throat. “That’s _my_ question, what do **_you_** think you’re doing?!”

"What do you mean?"

"This is not the direction to the border. You didn't take me to the west!" Regina looked up at the sky. Yes, she didn't recognize the way, but she at least knew the direction of the setting sun was the destination she was going to reach. "You took me the wrong way, you led me away from the border, what is your purpose?" She asked loudly, her hand gripping the dagger tightly. A bead of bright red blood trickled out from the hunter's slender neck.

Regina stared. Something felt wrong. She turned her eyes back to the hunter's—hazel eyes that looked _so_ familiar. Her gaze then slid down to his face full of stubble, "You..." Before she could finish her sentence, a huge force had knocked her out, and the brunette was pushed onto the bonfire pile. Thankfully, the fire hadn't been ignited yet. The hard stone cut into her back unforgivingly, but it was nothing compared to the snarling white wolf pressing her down.

The beast growled, exposing his gleaming white teeth, the hot bloody smell assaulted her senses, and she was too terrified to scream or even speak. Her dagger was also knocked away, lost somewhere nearby.

The hunter took advantage of this opportunity to roll and stand up, he crossed his arms and watched them with a crinkle around his eyes. To Regina’s astonishment, the hunter was _amused_.

"Order your pet to get _off_ me!" The dark-haired woman sounded strained to her own ears. She dare not speak too loudly, fearing the wolf’s bite.

"Why? So you can threaten me with your dagger again?" The hunter snorted, “I think not.” He casually patted the dust off his clothes. "I didn't take you west because the cavalry chasing you are waiting in front. If we go straight, we are most definitely running straight into a trap. So I took you on another route. It would take longer, but we can also avoid the people chasing you."

Regina was taken aback. How did she not expect this?

"You could’ve asked me carefully instead of being rough." The hunter touched the thin wound on his neck, the blood had already stopped. "Or, you could’ve waited until my wolf is not around."

The white wolf stuck out its pink tongue, and Regina’s eyes crossed themselves as she eyed the drop of saliva hanging on its tip, dangerously close to falling on the tip of her nose, "I'm sorry." She apologized helplessly, and then protested, "but you shouldn't have hidden your identity from me! You… you are a woman!"

The hunter didn't say anything, but he whistled, and the white wolf immediately retreated obediently.

The dark-haired woman sat up slowly, her back was throbbing painfully, and she might’ve hit her head again. "You are a woman." She repeated. That explains why the hunter can resist her charm.

The latter rubbed his face, and with a tearing sound, the stubble on his face was peeled off, revealing a pale face and thin lips, there was an air of determination and toughness around the person, something rarely found on women. “Yes, I am a woman girly. My name is Emma.”

Regina gaped. Emma’s voice sounded better than the deep accented one the brunette had grown accustomed to. “If you call me girly again, I’ll… I’ll-”

“You’ll what?” Emma batted her pretty hazel eyes mockingly.

Regina was speechless for a moment, then she turned away bitterly.

They ate dinner —— a pot of thick mushroom stew with rabbit meat, in an awkwardly quiet atmosphere, The brunette grudgingly admitted to herself that she appreciated the huntress’ amazing skills to use anything in the forest to cook delicious meals.

"Why were you faking a beard and pretending to be a man?" Regina finally asked. "It doesn't prevent you from hunting, it also doesn't help you track the leopard, does it?"

"It makes traveling easier." Emma glanced at her and replied flatly. People always felt it inappropriate to see a woman hunting in the forest, and she is often too lazy to explain. After all, if she had a choice this was definitely not the life she hoped to lead. "My brothers have all left. I must take on the responsibility of supporting myself. Pampered young ladies like you wouldn’t understand." She said with a bit of habitual teasing in her eyes. Regina understood the meaning behind that gaze. , The blonde woman thinks a person like herself would have nothing to worry about. However, the pain of life cannot be completely avoided by money and wealth.

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Two." Emma leaned on the tree, raised his head slightly, and looked at the endless starry sky: "My eldest brother is an archer in the army, he went to the frontlines of the battlefield. Perhaps I can meet him somewhere along the border. " She shrugged and didn't go on.

Regina waited for a while, then asked, "What about your other brother?"

"He’s a guard in the palace," Emma replied briefly.

A guard. The dark-haired woman raised an eyebrow involuntarily. No wonder she felt familiar with the huntress. Her brother must look a bit like her. Most of the young men in the guard were familiar with her. In fact, the word familiar isn’t enough to express the intimacy between her and them.

"You stole something from the queen."

Regina didn't react to the reason she made up until Emma repeated it, she nodded hurriedly. "That’s right."

"Aren't you afraid that she’ll execute you? If you got caught." The huntress seemed to be studying her expression.

Regina met her gaze, "Do you think she will execute someone who has only stolen jewelry?"

"I don't know. After all, of the two of us, you are the one who knows her better."

The dark-haired woman smiled bitterly, “The queen has many bad aspects, but cruelty is not one of them.”

“Then what counts, debauchery?” Emma's mockery when she said the word was even heavier than ever before.

Regina frowned and didn't reply. She couldn’t tell her the truth and risk exposing her identity. After all, she was now just a maid who had fled from the queen.

"Everyone in the palace knows that she is a slut, God knows why the king would tolerate her romanticism. What a benevolent man he is."

"Yes, everyone knows that their king is the most benevolent monarch in the world," Regina muttered quietly, the only one tasting the bitterness of each word.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Emma seemed to notice the shift in her emotions.

The dark-haired woman shook her head, “No.” she said plainly and lay down, "I'm going to bed, good night." She turned her back to the blonde woman.

Emma threw a few more pieces of wood into the fire, and then lay down, the two women lying slightly closer than the night before, but still three or five steps away. The white wolf came over and curled up beside its master. The blonde huntress leaned her head on the white wolf's leg and closed her eyes.

Everything was quiet, except for the occasional crackling of the fire, the whole world fell silent. Regina turned her side carefully, the necklace around her neck falling out of her collar as her posture changed. She pinched the small iron ring on its silver chain and gently pressed it to her lips, her mind lost in memories.

At the age of 18, she became queen. This was certainly not by her choice. She didn't even think that this marriage would be the King’s choice, because she really couldn't figure out why out of all the nobles in the kingdom the king would choose her —— the daughter of an ordinary nobleman, to be his bride. It was definitely not because of love. This was the only thing she is sure of.

Regina's parents were overjoyed with the king's proposal and eagerly agreed. This is an excellent opportunity to make the family successful again. They didn’t give a second thought to the fact that they were handing their daughter to a man old enough to be her father.

The king is thirty years older than her, and contrary to everything she heard, he was not gentle nor benevolent. He would come to her chambers once every three or five days to fulfill his rights as a husband. There were no intimate caresses or tender kisses. Sometimes he didn’t even bother to undress, without saying a word he would press her onto the bed, lift the edges her gown, and just thrust into her brutally without preamble.

Regina still remembers her wedding night, "I hope you’ll give birth to an heir soon." He murmured after slumping onto her body, and soon succumbed to sleep under the influence of alcohol, leaving the exhausted brunette to shrink into herself, sobbing uncontrollably as every physical and emotional wound she had endured throughout the evening made themselves known. That was the first of many nights Regina had cried herself to sleep feeling abandoned and painful.

After the first few times of enduring this unsentimental bonding ceremony, the pain had receded, and only numbness remained.

The king’s visits seemed to be only to produce an heir. He asked the imperial doctor to prepare various fertility medicines, some were for himself, but most were for his wife. But his efforts were always in vain, which made him frustrated, and the more frustrated he gets, the more brutal he would be to his young and inexperienced wife.

Whenever the king laid on her heavily and grabbed, pinched, and thrusted harshly, Regina would just stare at his graying and balding hair unseeingly. She would imagine herself detaching from her body, and witnessing the absurd sight below.

What made her even more unbearable was the feeling of being completely ignored. The king wasn't without feelings. He loves his dead wife, and his spoiled daughter but for Regina, except for the routine visits every few days, his presence was like air. A weightless existence.

She was like a stamen that has never been exposed to the sun, wilting away little by little in the darkness of the palace without fully blooming. The only warmth of affection that she has ever enjoyed in her entire life was the silver iron ring on the chain around her neck——the ring her first love gave to her for his proposal. He was the stableboy of her estate. Knowing that she was about to marry the king, they had planned to elope, but on the night of their meeting, he had mysteriously disappeared, and she would rather believe it was the boy's cowardly retreat that had caused his absence than to think of a more unfortunate reason.

As queen, naturally, she had no worries about food and clothing, but no one would feel completely satisfied just because they were full and warm. With the walls of the palace closing in like bars of a prison, Regina felt like she was going insane. She wanted to leave, but she has nothing except for her title of the queen consort, she had no power, no wealth. Perhaps, her body is her only weapon.

So, she drew smokey makeup and put on coquettish gowns. She openly flirted with the young knights at the ball and played ambiguous games with the king’s guards. The men who flung themselves at her feet made her discover her power, and this confidence made her even more seductive and audacious. After a few years, people were astonished to find that their young queen, a pure white lily, had somehow turned into a wantonly blooming red rose.

The king seemed to pay no attention to her obvious love affairs. He still visited his wife, often leaving her bruised and battered, and always forced her to drink all kinds of disgusting medicines.

If this were to be her life forever, Regina might not have had the courage to escape, but now, everything has changed.

The dark-haired woman sighed, closed her eyes, and forced herself to sever the web of memories. She must sleep, restore her energy, and leave this damn forest as soon as possible.


	4. The Shelter

Regina woke up very early the next day. The bonfire had already extinguished, and not even the slightest warmth remained. The sun had yet to rise, and the morning mist enveloped the entire woods, and the damp air was mixed with the fragrance of grass and the decaying scent of fallen leaves. She blinked her tired eyes and yawned. 

"You look terrible." Emma had woken up too.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious." The black-haired woman sighed. She stood up with difficulty, gripping a branch for support, and took a few deep breaths, trying to suppress the nauseous tumbling in her chest.

"If you hadn’t attacked me, you wouldn’t have hit your head again." The huntress said and sat up. She quickly reignited the campfire, fetched water, and added a new handful of pine branches in the iron pan. Soon, a cup of pine branch tea was in Regina's hands: "Drink it, you’ll feel better."

The dark-haired woman glanced at her and accepted the cup obediently: "Thank you." The pale yellow tea exuded the unique fragrance of pine branches, and as the hot liquid slipped into her stomach, she slowly regained some strength. "I’m fine now, let's go."

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

In the autumn forest, some trees had begun to lose their leaves, but others are evergreen. These different species divided the entire forest into several different colors. As the pair made their way through the forest, dead leaves would fell from time to time large tracts of dead leaves around them, like golden butterflies, dancing one last time, and bidding farewell to the world. At this moment, even Regina, who has never liked living in the wild, had to admit that this forest has a mysterious and unique charm.

The two journeyed for most of the day, and in the afternoon, they reached a particularly narrow road. These roads are less traveled, as wild vegetation occupied most of the road. 

The huntress got off the horse, holding the reins in one hand, she waved her sword in the other, cutting the branches obscuring the way. The white wolf followed them patiently.

"Tell me about the queen." Emma seemed to be looking for a topic to pass the time.

"There’s nothing to tell." The brunette on horseback instinctively refused. "Why would you want to listen to anything about this 'slut'?"

Emma didn't answer and asked, "Is it true? The rumors of her seducing all the young men in the palace?"

_A bit exaggerated, but it can't be called completely out of nothing_. Regina thought. "She didn't do it for pleasure." She still tried to defend herself, "The king doesn't love her, and only uses her as a tool for childbearing." But even this had she failed too.

"But he tolerates her betrayal."

That, at least, is true, Regina doesn't know why her husband can endure her affairs again and again. Perhaps he understands that what she had with those men were only physical, and she was always an accessory to him alone.

"Perhaps the queen is a slut, but that doesn’t make her a bad person," the brunette smiled bitterly. "But of course in the eyes of most, a woman having multiple affairs is already a heinous crime."

"She is not evil unless someone gets killed because of her," Emma said, slashing apart a branch that hung in front of her.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

**"No, Leopold, let him go!" Regina yelled, her trembling hands fumbled with her torn nightgown, trying to hide her breasts. His husband was tightly gripping the hair of a young man, his face was distorted with anger.**

**The young man's face was bloody, and he knelt on the ground, two heavily armed guards pulling each of his guards, he was wearing the same uniform as them.**

**"Leopold, he didn't mean to hurt you, just let him go!" The dark-haired woman tried to grab her husband's hand but was pushed aside roughly.**

**"Maybe he should’ve thought carefully about who he was going against before he did this." Leopold sneered. He is a benevolent king, but this does not mean that he will condone others' disrespect to him.**

**"Drag him out and put him to death!" He gave orders to the two standing guards. His anger had subsided, and the calm voice made this command sound particularly cold.**

**No one can oppose the wills of a king. Regina fell to the ground, her tearful eyes meeting the desperate ones of the young man, "I'm so sorry." She sobbed softly, but a sentence of apology held even less worth than the weight of a feather when facing life and death.**

**"It's not your fault, Your Highness," the young man coughed, more blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.**

**"You are such an idiot." The black-haired woman stretched out her hand and gently wiped the blood for him, but she was unable to wipe it clean. Maroon warmness coated her fingers.**

**"I know..." The young man smiled sadly. Time had run out, and the standing guards dragged him out to execute the order.**

**Regina fell to the ground in tears as the king stood emotionless in the middle of the room. "Enough Regina. Dry your face, take off your clothes, and lie down on the bed." He ordered coldly.**

**After a momentarily silence, the dark-haired woman wiped the tears from her face. She stood up woodenly, her hands hanging on her sides, the tattled nightgown sliding to her feet. Without looking, she walked silently to the bed and crawled onto it on her hands and knees. Although the king was always more rough when entering her from behind, she still chose this position —— she didn't want to see him tonight.**

**The king walked over wordlessly, and after a pause, he suddenly pushed in, rougher than he ever did before.** **Regina bit her lip, trying and failing to stop her whimpers. Her tears started flowing yet again.**

**“Shut up!” The king snapped. He grabbed her waist with one hand and pressed her neck heavily with the other. The brunette leaned forward into her crossed arms, cheeks pressed tightly against the cold bedsheets, her fingers staining them with the young man’s blood. Her agonized cries were muffled, and Regina desperately hoped that she wouldn’t be in this position for long. She could hardly breathe.**

**It didn't last long, "Uhh..." With a low growl that sounded almost painful, the king released between her legs. He immediately arranged his clothes, and before he could settle his breathing, he had left his wife and returned to his bedroom.**

**Regina could barely move. Curling up in the bed, she sobbed through the night.**

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

"Hey, girly! Hey!"

The voice of the huntress pulled Regina back to the present. "Hmm, what?"

"It's about to rain, we’ll have to find shelter." Emma looked up at the thick grey clouds covering the forest.

"Is there an overhead shelter that you know of?"

"If I remembered correctly, there should be a wooden hut not far in front, specially designed for hunters to rest. We can try our luck there. We might be able to sleep in real beds tonight."

"I really hope you remembered correctly," Regina said sincerely.

After half an hour, they finally found the wooden house, but it had already been raining for a while. They stumbled into the house, soaked from head to toe.

This is a hut built by hunters for the convenience of themselves and their colleagues. The hut was very simple and contained some basic daily necessities. For convenience, everyone can rest here, consume the necessaties, and replendish them or leave a proper amount of when they leave for the next group of arrivals to use.

Emma crouched in front of the fireplace, struggling to set the fire with rain-soaked tinder. Regina hugged her arms tightly to her chest, trying to preserve as much of her body temperature as possible. The cold wet clothes made her tremble involuntarily. Wet dark hair hung on her pale cheeks, and the tip of her nose was red because of the cold.

The huntress glanced at her embarrassing appearance and laughed, "Welcome to real life."

"I might not be familiar with forests, but I don't live in a pink bubble either." The dark-haired woman retorted.

"That might be true, ‘cause people living in pink bubbles won’t know how to sass." Emma shrugged as she finally lit the fire. She threw a few pieces of wood into the fireplace, hoping to raise the temperature in the room as quickly as possible. Using the light of the fireplace, the huntress rummaged around and found a piece of bacon, a bottle of honey, and some tea bags. "It seems that we can soon have a real cup of tea." She grinned as she walked towards the dark-haired woman, reaching out to unbutton her clothes.

"What are you doing?" Regina took a step back instinctively, almost hitting the iron railing in front of the fireplace.

" You should take off your wet clothes immediately, unless you want to get pneumonia?" the huntress looked at her, amused, "Why are you nervous, have you forgotten that I've already seen you naked?"

If it were not for the shadow of the fire, Emma would have seen the blush on Regina’s cheeks. "Not funny." The brunette murmured, "I’ll undress myself." she said, and slowly started unbuttoning her clothes with her numb fingers.

The blonde woman also took off her coat and hung it in front of the fire to dry. Then, she picked up two torn blankets from the bed and shook the dust on them vigorously. One was draped on her body and the other was thrown to her companion. The latter resentingly but reluctantly took it.

The raindrops hit the top of the wooden hut, making messy crackling noises, and it rained heavier and heavier. They sat side by side in front of the fireplace to keep warm. Emma took a wooden stick and fed it to the fire, making it burn with more vigor. She turned her head and glanced at the brunette next to her. Her eyes fell on the pendant on her chest, "What’s that?"

Regina lowered her eyes, pinched the ring with her hand, and rubbed it gently, "It's a small iron ring on a saddle."

"Not many people use these things for jewelry."

The brunette woman nodded. To others, the ring isn’t even worth a penny, but to her, it is the most precious thing in the world.

"I hope this is isn’t what you stole from the queen, otherwise, you are the dumbest thief I have ever seen."

"This is my necklace," Regina snapped. "I’ve had it for many years, and had never taken it off."

Emma didn't say anything, turned her face away, and gazed at the fire with a complicated expression.

"War is approaching." After a long time, she suddenly said. Regina felt a strange indifference in Emma’s tone, but she didn't understand why, so she parroted the woman, "Yes, war is approaching."

"The war happened abruptly. King Leopold and King George have always been in harmony." The two kingdoms are of equal strength. They’ve sent troops together to defend the attack of some cannibal trolls several years ago and celebrated the final victory together. The two kingdoms have been trading and communicating with each other all the time. To maintain peace, the king had also planned to marry his beloved daughter Snow to King George's only son, Prince James.

Regina did not immediately respond to these words of the huntress. She silently watched the flickering flames, The soft light projected onto her face, giving her a faint halo, like a fragile and stunning illusion that would shatter with a touch. "I know there are a lot of rumors about the cause of the war." She took a breath. "You must have heard of something?" she asked the huntress.

"There are some, but you are a maid in the palace. Shouldn't you know better than me?"

"I want to hear what you’ve heard." Regina insisted.

The blonde woman said, "It was because of the queen." She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and continued in a calm tone, "She seduced Prince James when he came to propose. It shattered the harmony between the two kingdoms. Years of peace. Ruined by one’s selfishness."

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

**"Congratulations, Your Highness, you’re about to marry the most beautiful woman in the whole kingdom." Regina and James met unexpectedly under her apple tree in the imperial garden of the palace.**

**The warm afternoon sun fell onto the prince’s soft blond hair, and his blue eyes looked at his fiancée’s young stepmother with a smile. He could hear that her congratulations were without any sincerity. "I don’t think so. "He replied, the corner of one side of his mouth raised slightly, forming a nice arc.**

**"Don't you think this marriage is worth celebrating?" The dark-haired woman was slightly surprised.**

**"No," the prince shook his head, "I mean, of course, Snow White is a very beautiful girl, but I do not think that she is the most beautiful woman in this kingdom."**

**Regina smiled. "Then which woman do you think is the most beautiful?" She didn't need to ask, because even if she did, she might not believe the answer. She dipped her head slightly and turned, slender shoulders almost brushing the corner of the prince's tunic when passing by gracefully, leaving him to admire a retreating figure full of reverie.**

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

"War is always more complicated than people think." Regina murmured, she’s not sure if she is talking to a huntress, or herself.

"I only know that soldiers are sent to the battlefield. Hundreds and thousands of people will bleed or even die. The living will also endure the misfortunes caused by war."

The disapproval in Emma's tone stung Regina, she suddenly turned her head and stared at the huntress closely, "So, it's the queen's fault?"

"If the rumors are true, then it seems like you’re right," the blonde woman met her gaze steadily. "Perhaps you can share with me some unknown secrets within the palace?"

Regina bit her lip. "Since everyone thinks that way, so be it." She suddenly stood up and walked over to the simple wooden bed, which was covered with thick animal skins. It was far from clean, but for someone who has been sleeping on damp mud for several nights, she really couldn’t complain. The brunette kicked off her footwear and climbed onto the bed, moving a little further in, she sat in the corner and hugged her knees.

None of them spoke, and except for the sound of rain, everything was quiet. Regina was a little hungry, but the huntress was sitting by the warm fire, apparently not planning to go hunting, so she tugged on the blanket wrapped tightly around her body and didn’t mention their empty stomachs. She fell asleep eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Direct flashbacks are italics. Writing this story was a form of catharsis for me and it helps me cope instead of cutting. But it might not be appropriate for everyone. Please don’t continue reading this story if you believe it would trigger you. I’m so sorry if you did get triggered ❦ ~RL


	5. The Player

The rain had stopped by the time Regina woke. She blinked and saw a blanket piled on the other side of the bed. Apparently, the huntress was sleeping next to her last night, but now she had gotten up and the brunette doesn't know where she is.

Regina climbed out of the bed, grabbed the dry clothes in front of the fireplace, and quickly put them on. She opened the door and walked out.

Emma was standing under the eaves, checking her black horse. "A horseshoe was lost at some point. We can’t ride it through the forest like this." She scratched her messy blond hair.

"What now then?" The black-haired said dejectedly, feeling defeated by all the bad luck she was getting. 

"I know of a small village only a day away from here. I can go there to reattach the horseshoe, and also buy us some essential items for the road." Emma said quickly. , "If I leave now, I will be back in the evening. You just need to stay here for one more day."

Regina doesn’t feel very relieved: "How do I know you’ll come back?"

"I still want the five hundred gold coins that you promised." The huntress paused, and suddenly snorted, "Why, you afraid? Too scared to stay here alone?"

The brunette wrapped her arms around herself, "I was fine being alone before I met you."

"Well, I can leave my old buddy with you for company. It will protect you." Emma whistled. Soon, the white wolf came out of the woods, a pheasant hanging limp in its jaws, "Look, it even handled breakfast for you." The blonde woman knelt and touched the white wolf's head, she murmured a few parting words to her pet and then stood up. Regina watched as the huntress disappeared out of view with the black horse.

The day passed steadily, and if the burnt pheasant doesn’t count, no accidents had occurred. Although Emma told her not to go out before she left, but in the evening, the black-haired woman decided to go to a nearby forest. She hoped to find some berries for dinner. At least she would not burn berries. The white wolf followed her every step, his eyes staring at her and not leaving for a second. At first, Regina was wary of its stare, but slowly, she got used to the strange company.

It was getting dark, and the dark-haired woman was carrying a small pile of wild fruits in the crook of her arms, ready to go back. Suddenly, a hoarse roar came from the front, startling her and making the berries roll to the ground. The white wolf immediately raised his ears, bared his teeth, and growled dangerously as if he was warning something. Regina wasn’t sure what the beast is warning about, but she remembered the leopard the huntress had said she was hunting, so she ran back, breathlessly rushed into the cabin, and the moment she closed the door her heart almost jumped out of her throat.

She made herself a cup of tea and decided not to touch the burnt piece of pheasant. Thinking of the berries that fell in the woods made her stomach feel even emptier. _If one hadn’t had a huntress as a traveling companion_ , Regina thought to herself, _how could they have survived in the wild?_ Even if her horse had not run away, even if she has the most detailed map in the world, she would probably not be able to cross the forest.

She remembered the phrase "the person in the pink bubble" that the huntress had used to ridicule her. The pink bubble had been said by herself, but Emma obviously couldn't agree more. Then she remembered the rumors about the Queen. She knew how the noble ladies in the court gossiped behind her, but they didn't dare to say these in front of her. Hearing those rumors with her own ears had affected her much more than she expected.

The dark-haired woman laid on the bed drowsily, the shadow of the past inevitably reached out to her.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

**"Oh, he is much more handsome than I thought." Regina stood on the palace terrace, looking down at the carriage from the neighboring kingdom slowly entering the castle. Standing next to her is her 18-year-old stepdaughter Snow. At this moment, her face was flushed because of the joke from her stepmother.**

**Everyone knows that the most important thing for Prince James to leave his kingdom this time was to confirm the marriage that the two kings had long acquiesced.**

**The dark-haired woman continued to joke: "Imagine, your future child must be very cute."**

**"Oh Regina, stop it." Snow’s face had become redder than the fruit on her stepmother's beloved apple tree. "He hasn't formally proposed yet, and nothing has been decided, and here you are, already talking about a child. "She protested, but the unconcealed smile on her face had already betrayed her budding affection.**

**"But you’ll say ‘yes’ as soon as he proposes, isn’t that right?"**

**"Oh my God, Regina, I can't stand you anymore." Snow clutched her burning face, turned around, and ran into the house.**

**Regina looked at her back and laughed uncontrollably, but the short-lived pleasure brought by teasing the little girl could not satisfy her for too long, so she turned her gaze to the Prince who was sitting firmly on the white horse. He’s was in her twenties, a few years older than Snow, with a dignified appearance and a decent manner. The muscles under the armor gave him a proud aura. This was the first time she saw him, but the dark-haired woman was no stranger to the rumors about the man. People said Prince James was brave and witty. The only drawback was that he was a playboy and love to mess around. However, romantic love is not an unforgivable crime for men like for slutty women. He was still loved by his subjects and the dream lover of many young women.**

**Perhaps her gaze held a special weight, as the prince seemed to have sensed something, he suddenly raised his head and looked towards her. The two eyes met unexpectedly in mid-air. The prince was stunned for a moment, but he quickly recovered his usual demeanor, then smiled and bowed to her on horseback. Before Regina could react, the minister who greeted him had already rushed to the horses, and the prince had to concentrate on dealing them. When he looked up to the terrace again, the enchanting dark-haired woman had already disappeared.**

**However, the two players were destined to meet and match.**

**Later that night, the king held a grand banquet for the coming prince. Throughout the banquet, Snow’s red cheeks hardly faded. The prince's decent conversation and graceful demeanor overwhelmed everyone present. However, between those polite greetings and tap of wine glasses, he would often exchange a subtle and knowing glance with the queen sitting at the main table.**

**"Your Majesty, this glass of wine is to my father's honor." He raised the glass and came to the king's seat, eyes passing over to the queen's smiling mouth.**

**Leopold took the glass with satisfaction and drank it in one go.**

**"This glass is for you, Your Royal Highness." He poured a glass of wine again and held it to Regina, smiling deeply.**

**The black-haired woman met his gaze calmly. This was the first time they had the opportunity to have a direct conversation. "I do not drink well." She deliberately declined.**

**"James is a distinguished guest, Regina, do not refuse him," Leopold ordered his wife.**

**The dark-haired woman stretched out her hand and took the glass of wine in the prince's hand. At that moment, almost imperceptible to the public, the fingers of the two touched slightly. Regina lowered her head and took a sip of the sweet, mellow wine, clear liquid sliding across the tip of her tongue. She ran her lips teasingly over her plump lips.**

**She was pretty sure that James saw every subtle move.**

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

The galloping of hooves woke Regina. She opened the door to look out and saw Emma riding the black horse through the night.

Seeing his master, the white wolf immediately ran to meet her.

"You finally came back, did everything go well?" Regina was a bit taken aback by her eager tone. The excitement of seeing the huntress was a little bit more than Regina herself expected.

"It went well." Emma jumped off the horse, touched the white wolf's head, then tied the horse under the eaves. She removed a big bag from the horse's back. "Hungry?" She asked the brunette as she followed her into the hut.

There were fresh bread and some beef jerky in the bag, and a flask, the strong smell of wine made the dark-hair woman’s mouth water.

The food made Regina's eyes brighter. “Very.” She tore a piece off the bread and stuffed it into her mouth. Emma took out a dagger and cut a large piece of jerky, handing it to her. "Eating these only will make your throat too dry. Would you like some wine?" She asked, lifting the flask and shaking it, the richer aroma of wine wafting out, "This is freshly brewed barley wine. You can't drink it in the palace."

The dark-haired woman hesitated and shook her head: "No, I don't drink well."

Emma didn't insist anymore, she unscrewed the lid of the flask and took a big gulp, sticking out her tongue and licking her lips. These actions touched Regina's memories, and she felt a little dazed.

"It's not too late to change your mind, I’m about to finish it." The huntress said.

"No, thank you." Regina turned her gaze. To be honest, alcohol was a good way to kill the night, but it was not suitable for her current condition. While she was eating the late dinner, she watched as the blonde woman took one sip after another, her face seemed worried as she stared at the flickering flames.

"What happened?" the black-haired woman asked tentatively. Maybe the situation is not as smooth as the huntress said.

"Nothing." Emma blurted out, but after a while, she added, "I heard the villagers say that more troops have been sent to the border. Maybe the two sides will go to war again before we get there. Are you sure you want to go to the border?"

Regina frowned, but she didn't hesitate at all, "Yes, I must go."

"Who are you looking for? Does that person know what you’re risking to find them?”

Regina didn't say a word, she couldn't answer the first question, and the second question was a complete no. So she changed the subject, "I met a leopard."

"What?!" Sure enough, the huntress was distracted, "Did you see it?"

"No, but I heard its cry."

"Are you sure? Have you ever heard a leopard’s call before?" Emma asked suspiciously.

The brunette shook her head.

Emma laughed, "Maybe it's just a lynx."

Regina laughed too, _tonight’s atmosphere was obviously lighter than last night_ , she thought. The huntress seemed to realize something, and her smile suddenly froze as she turned her face back to the fire, and she continued to drink her barley in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder that this is a Swanqueen fic. Every sentence, every action, and every detail has its purpose.


	6. The Leopard

Early the next morning, the two were ready to continue on their way.

Emma left some of the beef jerkies in her bag in the wooden hut for the next group of settlers to enjoy. When they were packing up, a sudden roar broke the silence of dawn.

The sound was still fresh in Regina’s memory."That's it, that’s the sound I heard!" She stepped out of the hut, eyes scanning the forest.

This time, the huntress didn't make fun of her, because she heard it too, the sound of a leopard’s call. She walked quickly to Regina and pulled her into the hut, "Stay here, don’t even think about running around!" she ordered, picking up an iron crossbow hanging on the saddle and turning towards the forest.

"What are you doing?" The dark-haired woman tried to hold her.

"I’ve been chasing this leopard for several days now." She finally met it once more, how could she let it go? Emma's face exuded a light of excitement only hunters would have, and that said, she ran into the woods without looking back. The white wolf tacitly followed behind its owner, and they disappeared into the woods together.

Following the direction of the voice, the blond looked everywhere but found nothing. She was a little discouraged. She and leopard had been playing this game of chase for days now and every time the sly beast managed to get away. There was a fork in the road ahead, Emma thought for a while and lowered her head to the white wolf: "Hey boy, let's split up and search." She said, pointing to the left.

The white wolf understood and ran into the bushes on the left.

The huntress walked along the path on the right slowly. Just when she thought she was destined to be disappointed again, suddenly in the shadows of the branches, she saw a leopard with beautiful rosettes. It was lying under a pine tree and licking its paws leisurely with its blood-red tongue.

Emma quietly raised the iron crossbow, held her breath, and aimed. The iron crossbow is much more lethal than the bow and arrow, but leopards have a strong physique. If she misses, it’ll likely counterattack. To ensure she kills it with one shot, Emma aimed the arrow at the leopard’s forehead.

At the split second the trigger was pulled, a field mouse sprang out of the grass and the leopard rose to alert. The sharp arrow flew out, missing the leopard’s head and hitting its neck. The sudden attack caused the leopard to roar hoarsely. It turned its head, front paws landing on the ground, hind legs kicked, and rushed in the direction of its attacker.

Emma had touched the quiver behind her and quickly reloaded the iron crossbow, but she was still a step too late. When she pulled the trigger, the leopard had already come in front of her. It leaped forward. The blonde woman rolled to avoid the deadly pounce, but the iron crossbow had completely lost its target, and the second arrow flew out, nailing itself to a crooked neck tree nearby.

The leopard roared and turned, staring at the huntress who was attacking it. It was way too close for the iron crossbow to have any use, and the huntress had no choice but to drop crossbow and pull out the rapier on her body, preparing for close combat. However, before the sword was out of its sheath, the leopard had launched its second attack. This time, she was not lucky enough and was pinned to the ground, the rapier flying out of her hands.

In desperation, she squeezed the arrow on the leopard’s neck and thrust it hard. More blood flowed out of the wound. The leopard howled in pain and the stench from its mouth along with saliva sprayed onto Emma’s face. The sharp white teeth only two or three centimeters away from the top of her head... This is the first time that the blonde had been so close to her prey, so close to life and death. At this moment, her fear had been forgotten. The moment when the hunter and the prey were the closest together, someone picked up the fallen rapier that fell on the ground, and with one swift movement pierced the leopard’s back.

The leopard stood up painfully and waved its deadly paws fiercely, knocking down the person who stabbed it to the ground, the rapier still stuck in its back. The moment it was distracted Emma has quickly stood up. She walked behind the leopard, grabbed the hilt, and pushed it down, with a puff, the sharp blade penetrated the leopard's chest and it yowled. After the low snarl, the leopard fell to the ground and stopped moving.

Staring at the huge prey on the ground, the huntress breathed heavily. She turned her head to check on the person who had saved her at a critical moment, but discovered with a start that it wasn’t just some random person lying on the ground, it was the brunette. The sleeves on her right had been torn to rags under the claws of the leopard, and half of her body was stained red with blood...

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

**James has been in Leopold's palace for nearly two months, and Snow had fallen in love hopelessly. Finally, under the bright full moon, he proposed to her. Even though her lady’s reservedness stopped Snow from immediately blurting out "I do", the next day, she was still excited to show everyone she met the huge sapphire ring the prince had gifted her.**

**However, what she didn't know was that during these two months, James would sneak into the queen's palace and meet with him with every chance he had. He sent someone to make a long, flexible ladder, with one end hidden in the bell tower on the top of the palace. Every night, he would lower the ladder and climb into the window of the queen's room.**

**"I know this is by no means the first time you have done this kind of thing. Who knows how many women have opened windows to welcome you." Regina was wearing a thin silk nightgown, and lying sideways on her huge canopy bed. Her slender fingers pinched a bright red cherry, and she smiled as she watched her lover jump into the room from the windowsill. "Be careful, one day you will break your neck for this." She sucked the cherry with her plump lips, rolled the tip of her tongue, and swallowed it into her mouth.**

**"If I die, will you cry for me?" James asked with a smile, walk quickly towards the bed.**

**"I don't know, but I'm sure Snow would be heartbroken." The dark-haired woman shrugged her pretty shoulders.**

**James hugged her in one swift motion, pushed away the fruit tray on the bed, and completely suppressed her with his body weight. Showing her in the most direct way that he had no interest in talking about other women at the moment.**

**The two people vent their passionate desires in various positions on the large bed. Completely attracted by each other's bodies, they were far from getting bored. They regarded every tryst as their last and tried their best to savor every moment.**

**James buried his face between Regina's thighs and licked eagerly, his wide palms firmly supporting her hips, adjusted to an angle where he could taste her more thoroughly.**

**When the woman's groans became faster and faster and her movement becoming more frantic, he knew that she was about to reach the peak of her pleasure. At the same time, he lifted his body, quickly and accurately sliding his stiffness into her. With just a few gentle pushes, the woman under her suddenly tightened her body and screamed silently. He sensed the slight tremor of her warm inner walls wrapping him more tightly. This indescribable taste making him let out a low moan. He had had countless women, but there has never been one like this woman who almost made him want to please her and fill her, again and again.**

**After retreating from their highs every time, James refused to leave easily. "God knows how much I want to stay here overnight." He muttered between her neck.**

**"If you don't leave it’ll soon be dawn," Regina urged with a smile, "If it makes you feel better, I might as well tell you that no one has ever spent the night with me."**

**"Not even the king?"**

**The smile in the brunette’s eyes dimmed a bit for an instant, and she nodded. "Especially the king."**

**"What a hell of a royal marriage," James grumbled, putting on his clothes quickly, "I hope my life wouldn’t be so sad." Turning his head, he found that Regina's face had become even dimmer, "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"**

**"Nothing," the black-haired woman smiled weakly: "Don't worry, even though Snow is a spoiled child, she is not that bad. Life as her husband would definitely not be as sad."**

**James scratched his messy hair and shrugged. Even if he gets married, he could still find other women to find comfort. He walked to the window, stepped on the window sill then on the ladder, and leaned forward: "Give me one last kiss."**

**Regina smiled and walked over, holding his cheek and pressing his lips to hers tightly. "It's time to go, be careful."**

**"It's a lot harder than when I first came here, you know, you made my legs weak." James tried his best to delay the kiss.**

**The dark-haired woman raised her eyebrows: "If you keep complaining, then don’t bother coming tomorrow."**

**"Don't even think about it." The prince smiled as he stepped out of the window sill and climbed neatly along the ladder to the roof.**

**Regina strained against the window, watching him disappear into the deepest darkness before dawn, and for a moment forgot to look back. The October wind had brought the coldness of the autumn night, blowing her wide white nightgown around. She still didn't bother to move, her right shoulder leaning against the cold stone wall. After a long time, the wall was so cold it was almost painful.**

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

The dark-haired woman felt like she was about to fall apart. Everything hurt, especially her right shoulder. A slight movement evoked a sharp pain. She opened her eyes and carefully lifted the blanket covering her body, and found that she was half-naked, and the only fabric covering her upper body was a white cotton cloth wrapped around her right shoulder, red staining the fabric.

"Fortunately, it was just a few skin injuries, no bones were injured." The huntress was sitting on a chair nearby. She was not wearing a coat, and the white cotton shirt on her body was obviously shorter. "I told you to stay in the house!"

"If I had listened to you, no one would be able to take me out of these damn woods anymore."

"I could’ve handled it alone." Emma kicked at the shiny rosette leopard skin piled on the ground——their defeated opponent.

"Well, since you are the best hunter, just think of that as me meddling in your business." Regina gritted her teeth and sat up on the bed. "But don't worry, I won't deduct any gold coins from the five hundred promised to you, so you don't have to admit the fact that I helped you." Her clothes were beside her, she grabbed them and put them on slowly. Her injured shoulder making her take a few short breaths of pain.

"Thank you," Emma whispered. She was always donning a complicated expression now. The dark-haired woman had long since given up trying to figure out what the other person is thinking. She’s just impatient to get on the move. Regina turned to the windows, low light seeping through the thin curtains. "Since it isn’t that dark right now, we can set off."

"You bled a lot, we… we can rest for a day before leaving." The huntress sounded almost reluctant.

"I'm fine." Regina's voice is not loud but firm. They have lost too much time, and she must cross the border as soon as possible.

Emma bowed her head and said nothing. After hesitating for a moment, she finally stood up: "Then let's go."

They still rode on one horse, with the white wolf following behind. This time Regina was sitting in front of the saddle. Despite her words, she has lost a lot of blood and was swaying weakly. After a while, she was mostly limp, lying into the arms of the blonde woman behind her.

The huntress deliberately slowed down, and as the dark horse trotted leisurely, she looked down at the dizzy brunette, "A woman like you shouldn't have walked into the woods in the first place."

"My lack of a ‘beard’ doesn’t mean I have to stay away from the forest."

"How are you able to take care of the queen with so much sarcasm?" Emma snorted, because of her closeness, her laughter sounded particularly deep to Regina.

"She is not as difficult to deal with as you think." Regina wondered, "In fact, why do you hate her so much? You’ve never even met her." _How can a person hold such a deep grudge against a complete stranger?_

"Even if she is kind to you, even if she has the most enchanting smile in all the realms, she is still the cause of this war, and hundreds and thousands of innocents died, because of her." Emma's tone was deliberately cold and disapproving, as if she were both talking to the woman in her arms, and also reminding herself that the queen is undoubtedly an extremely terrible woman. After a while, she added, "I do not hate her, I don't even resent her, I just feel that anyone, even the queen, has to bear the consequences of their actions themselves."

The blond’s words tumbled around in the dark-haired woman’s mind. She seemed to have sensed something in between the sentences, but Regina’s eyelids drooped heavily, she tried to fight back the waves of exhaustion, but the soft sounds of clopping and the warmth of the body behind her soon dragged her into oblivion.


	7. The Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder that bold words are flashbacks.

**News of Prince James and Snow White’s engagement soon spread across the country. To celebrate, the planning of a grand ball was put on the palace’s agenda.**

**The prince also decided that on the second day of the party, he would embark on a journey back to his kingdom, preparing to gift his bride with a generous betrothal and marry her when the spring blossoms are blooming at their fullest in the coming year.**

**Joyful music played one after the other, and everyone’s faces were filled with bright smiles, excited about a marriage that had nothing to do with them. On the dance floor, James danced with Snow gracefully, the two young royals stepping in sync. Regina watched at a distance, an inexplicable feeling of grief in her heart. She was not jealous, she just thought that she would never have such an opportunity to dance like that. She glanced at Leopold, who was already half-drunk. She knew he hated dancing, and no one could pull him onto the dance floor unless it was with his daughter. His hair and beard are all gray, he seemed to be aging rather quickly these past two years.**

**Before anyone noticed, the dark-haired woman had quietly exited the crowd and walked to the chamber on the second floor. This is where Leopold usually convenes the Council of Ministers. Now, no one would think to come here. The candles on the brass candlesticks did not brighten the room, but the light was just right for Regina. The sound of music coming from downstairs can be faintly heard, but other than that, the room was quiet, giving Regina the peace she desperately needs.**

**She sat down on a chair by the window, gazing into the endless night outside. Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a series of footsteps came nearer. She turned, slightly surprised to see him, "Aren't you supposed to be dancing with your fiance downstairs?"**

**James is wearing a close-fitting white uniform, the golden epaulets on his shoulders making him look extraordinarily tall and strong. He walked up to the dark-haired woman and squatted down. The two kept their eyes parallel: "I thought you were reluctant to lose me and had hidden here to cry secretly."**

**Both people laughed. They both knew it was just a joke. No one understands better than them how the other person thinks. Their laughter echoed off the far walls.**

**However, after the laughter, James added an untimely sentence, "If I were the one making decisions, Regina, I would rather have you as my wife." There was a rare cautiousness in his voice, almost making the brunette forget that he was once a sleep-around prince.**

**Regina's heart throbbed slightly. She hadn't felt this way for way too many years, "These hypothetical words, they are of no use anymore." She turned and used the night outside to hide her change of heart.**

**"I always feel that among so many people, including my father, only you understand me." He stretched out his hand, circled her waist, and gently laid his face on her lap: "Perhaps we might become soul-mates."**

**The dark-haired woman held his head and gently stroked his hair with her fingers: "Perhaps, but we don't have a chance to prove anything anymore." She was a little confused. "What exactly did you come here for?" she asked.**

**"I came to say goodbye." James lifted his face and stared at the brown eyes intensely as if trying to remember every detail.**

**"We said goodbye last night, multiple times. Did you forget so soon?" Regina chuckled indulgently, her body still slightly sore from last night's farewells.**

**"I don't mind saying it one more time," James said, suddenly using his hands to lift her from the chair.**

**The brunette let out a soft cry: "Hey, don't mess up my hair!" She warned in a low voice.**

**The prince smiled slightly and placed her on the huge round conference table, squeezing his body in between her legs, and leaned over to catch the two carefully drawn lips.**

**"Don't mess up my makeup!" Regina reminded again, but she didn't even take the warning seriously. When the prince's lips pressed against her, she did not resist and let his tongue slip into her mouth.**

_**Perhaps this would be their last kiss.** _ **Thinking about this, Regina subconsciously hugged the prince tighter. The latter lifted the heavy layers of her dress and touched the base of her thigh with ease. His fingers moved flexibly into her core as the brunette’s breath hitched, and the abundant wetness he found surprising him a bit. He couldn't help but lift his head from their entangled lips, and smiled jokingly: "I haven't even done anything yet."**

**"Then shut up and do what you are supposed to do." Regina eagerly spread her legs and wrapped them around the prince’s waist. She felt that she had really become a slut. But she didn't feel ashamed at all.**

**The prince was very cooperative. He stopped talking and started thrusting vigorously. His movements were quick and precise. Each stroke brought the dark-haired woman closer to the peak of pleasure. Just when the pleasure of her body was at the point of exploding, there was suddenly a loud shattering sound, alarming the two. They simultaneously turned to the source of the sound, seeing Snow standing at the door in a daze, broken glass at her feet.**

**Perhaps this strange scene made her too surprised to react. Snow’s face was like a blank sheet of paper, expressionless and pale. Then, anger, shame, and jealousy surged all over like spilled paint, instantly covering the entire sheet of white paper. "Gah!" the princess screamed, “You two most shameless people of all the realms!" Tears burst from her eyes.**

**"Snow, please, let me explain!" James jumped up from the brunette, trying to comfort his fiancée.**

**However, Snow had already run out, wailing loud enough for the world to hear.**

**"Oh my God, how is she suddenly here, she just started dancing with her father!" James said as he tucked his shirt into his waistband and chased her out.**

**Regina was the only one left in the huge conference hall. She stood up blankly, wondering whether she should pretend to go back to the ballroom downstairs like nothing happened, or continue to hide in here. The music downstairs had suddenly stopped, the ball had been stopped. She sighed. It seemed that she couldn't pretend to be obvious anymore. A horrified Snow had already made the scandal known to everyone.**

**She didn’t feel sorry for this. At first, she didn’t even think about seducing her stepdaughter’s fiancé, but then everything happened so naturally. She and James were like the poles of a magnet. Once they meet, instantly doomed to attract each other.**

**Seeing his beloved daughter being so humiliated and hurt, Leopold would be furious, she wondered how he would punish her. Thinking of this, Regina shivered involuntarily. James had fled back to his kingdom overnight after getting into trouble, but the brunette had nowhere to run, she could only wait for her husband's sentencing.**

**However, to her surprise, Leopold just looked at her and sneered: "You slut, you really did seduce James into your bed," There was nothing but sarcasm in his tone, there wasn’t even anger. "Of course, I wasn’t even surprised. After all, that kid was never a gentleman.**

**"You already knew? Then why didn't you stop us?" Regina was extremely confused. After all, her love affair with James was different from sleeping with his guards. Her husband could turn a blind eye even to this?**

**"Stop, why should I stop you two from doing what I wanted?" The king laughed. He stomped over to his wife, roughly reached into her collar with his right hand, and harshly pinched her nipple, "I wanted you to continue your affair until Snow discovers with her own eyes and your disgusting affair is made public. This way, I can take the initiative to tear up this marriage contract. People won’t accuse me of betrayal, and will instead show understanding and sympathy. When war is declared against George, my army will be a division of justice."**

**"You wanted to start a war?" Regina murmured. The slight guilt in her heart for Snow has long since disappeared. She had become a pawn in this sick man’s game, so what right does she have to sympathize with others? "But you and George have been friends for** _**years** _ **..."**

**"For a kingdom, there are only eternal interests, no eternal friends." Leopold sneered. He had been coveting George's wealth and land for years, but he never had an excuse to start a war. Now, he finally got what he wanted. "The support of the public opinion is sometimes stronger than that of any army." He said, his left hand also reaching into the collar of the dark-haired woman, the kneading force increasing. He suddenly pulled hard with both hands, and with a tearing sound, the needlework on Regina's front was completely torn apart.**

**The black-haired woman just stared at him blankly, as if she had never known this man. She isn’t like those simple-minded subjects who see him as a kind and generous king, but she still believes undoubtedly that he is a good father who loves his daughter. But this time, he even sacrificed his daughter's happiness. "You can use me however you want, but how could you involve Snow in your disgusting plans of war?" she yelled tearfully as Leopold’s grip on her breasts suddenly increased.**

**"It would be a tragedy if she married that stupid boy." The king justified loudly. "Although Snow is in pain now, she’ll forget James soon. Then, I will find a real match for her. a good man truly worthy of her. As for you," Leopold sneered, "An evil and nasty woman who ruined the peace between the two kingdoms, but her kind and generous husband did not put her in the dungeons, but only imprisoned her in her chambers as punishment." After speaking, he took a step closer to her.**

**The dark-haired woman retreated instinctively, but her back hit the cold wall hard, and she could not avoid Leopold’s hand suddenly gripping her chin tightly, "But don’t you worry, even though from now on, you are forbidden to leave the room for one step, it is not a true punishment, I will still visit you always, my dear wife."**

**He brought his face closer to her as he breathed his disgusting plan, the mixed smell of alcohol and saliva on her face making her panic, "Let me go!" She yelled and started struggling……**

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

"Let me go..." Regina suddenly struggled.

Emma hugged her and gripped the saddle tightly, nearly falling off the horse’s back, "Woah, wake up!" she hollered.

The brunette woke up with a start. She blinked and realized that it was just a dream, and she let out a relieved breath into the huntress’s shoulder. However, she soon discovered that something was not right. At some point, they had left the cover of the forest and were on the open road. "Where is this?" She looked around curiously.

The huntress didn't speak. She pulled on the reins, and the dark horse slowly stopped. It was dusk, and the sky was gloomy. Regina saw a group of people up in front from a distance, lined up, blocking the entire road. The distance was too far, and she couldn't see their clothes, but panic slowly started sliding over her spine like a cold poisonous snake, "They are..." She didn't know how to continue her sentence and only turned her head to look at the blonde woman above her.

Emma lowered her head, avoiding her gaze, but finished her sentence, "They are the king's guards, waiting to take you back, Your Royal Highness."

The black-haired woman's eyes widened inconceivably, but she didn't have time to deal with the woman’s betrayal, she only jumped off her horse quickly and ran towards the other direction. But she was still wobbly on her feet, and the huntress caught up to her easily and grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me you traitor!" Her anger finally broke out, and she slapped the huntress hard in the face. The blonde woman’s head snapped painfully to her side, but she didn't utter a word, only encircled the brunette tightly with both of her arms.

Regina struggled, but the huntress was stronger. The wound on her shoulder broke open again, and blood-soaked her clothes in an instant.

"Stop it, there’s no use in struggling," the blonde woman muttered, her voice deep and scratchy, "go back to the King, everything isn’t that bad."

The dark-haired woman did as she said, and stopped moving, panting heavily, secretly accumulating strength to break through again, "When did learn of my identity?" She had to figure out what happened before the guards took her away.

"When you were bathing in the lake, I saw your necklace, and later when we were in the hut, I asked you about it. Someone once told me before that the queen always wears a necklace of an iron ring, she never takes it off."

Regina remembered the strange look in the huntress's eyes the day she was watching her on the lakeshore, "Who told you this?" _It must be a person who pays attention, a talkative person._

Guessing her thoughts, the blonde woman sneered, "Don't you think of troubling him, you can't hurt him anymore."

"Why?" Regina asked hoarsely.

"Because he is dead. Because of _you_ , he lost his _life_!" Emma said coldly, an imperceptible tremor in her voice. But Regina still caught this rare and subtle trickle of emotion, and she turned her head to stare into the huntress’s familiar eyes. The deep hazel color, like a deep pool in the forest reflecting the dense shade of pine trees.

"Are you talking about your second brother, the court guard?" Regina's voice also began to tremble. In her mind, a young, bloody face appeared, blood slowly sliding down the top of his head, along his eyebrows, and past his eyes, a pair of dark hazel eyes. One by one, seemingly unrelated events began to connect, and the truth slowly emerged.

Emma nodded.

"His name…"

"Henry."

Regina closed her eyes, the bloody face feeling closer than ever. Yes, it was him. "So you’re avenging him?" She smiled sadly and completely gave up resisting.

"I’m just doing what I believe is right." The huntress bit her lip.

"So there was no such thing as a loose horseshoe. You were just looking for a chance to inform the guards… let me guess," the dark-haired woman smiled wryly, "You did not keep your white wolf with me company, nor to protect me. You kept him with me to keep me from running, is that correct?"

Emma didn't say a word, silently affirming the brunette’s words. She has been taking her around the edge of the woods just to find the opportunity to go to the town and inform the king's guard. Everything went smoothly according to her plan, until this morning when fighting with the leopard, she did not expect Regina to risk her life to save her.

At that moment, she truly hesitated, but in the end, she still focused on her original intention. Anyone has to bear the consequences for their actions, running away, it is unfair to everyone!

The guards' horses slowly approached them, and Emma released her grip. She knew that the dark-haired woman would no longer try to escape. She had nowhere to go.

The moment the soldiers forced her into the carriage, Regina didn't say a word, but looked back at the huntress, angry, contemptuous, hurt... There were too many mixed emotions tumbling around in her dark brown eyes.

The blonde woman turned her head silently under the brunette’s gaze. She did the right thing, but why is her heart is full of indescribable sadness and guilt?


	8. The Female Bodyguard

Emma stood in front of the mirror and sized up her appearance. She was wearing a light brown suede underclothes with light armor on the outside. The shiny rosette leopard skin was made into a cloak, which was now resting on her shoulders. Even she thinks that the blonde woman in the mirror looks airy and brave. However, she was still not in a better mood.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

**The huntress rejected the bag of gold coins handed over by the guard. "I told you, I will bring you the queen, but I do not want a bounty."**

**"Then what do you want?"**

**"I wish to see the king."**

**The guard thought for a while. The king had ordered that he wanted the queen back at any cost. Now that the task has been completed, how he rewards the huntress is not his concern, so he is happy to oblige: "Then, let’s go.”**

**Two days later, they came to the palace. This is the first time Emma has ever entered the palace. She gazed at the huge fortress with heavy colors and bold shapes, her heart dipping inexplicably. This is by no means a pleasant first impression.**

**The king quickly granted her entrance.**

**Sitting on the throne was a generous-looking man who was close to his old age. The beard attached to the sideburns was gray and white, and his hairline had retreated far behind the crown. His voice was low and gentle, but with the natural air of an emperor.**

**After thanking Emma for reporting the queen's whereabouts to the guards, the king asked, "They said you wanted to see me, is there anything you desire?" An informer who does not want a bounty must have another purpose.**

**The female hunter knelt down on one knee and told him of her request, "My elder brother, he is an archer in the army. He was sent to the front some time ago. I wish for you to call him back."**

**She knew that this request was selfish, and she was even ready to be blamed by the older brother who didn't understand her. Her elder brother was never a coward who was afraid of war, and being recalled like this would be a bit humiliating for a soldier. But after losing her second brother, she never wanted to lose another.**

**The king hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. He signed an order and sent someone to the front line to find Emma's eldest brother.**

**The request was granted, but when Emma was about to leave, he was stopped by the king. He sized up the tall and robust huntress in front of him with interest and asked her if she would be interested in staying in the palace as a female guard.**

**The female hunter thought hard. Could it be that the King wants to hire more guards to prevent the queen from fleeing again? She didn't think Regina would be happy to see her, but she wouldn’t object to seeing the dark-haired woman again. Perhaps she could also inquire about Henry from her. So she agreed.**

**However, to her disappointment, she was not entrusted with the important task of monitoring the queen, but to become the princess's personal guard. In addition to the duty of guarding, she was also ordered to go to the forest to catch some birds and beasts, bringing them back to be kept in captivity in the garden of the palace so that the princess could play with them.**

**For a hunter, this really was the best use of their skills. Emma smiled sadly.**

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

"I hate James, I hate Regina!" Snow stood in front of the dressing table, holding a bunch of roses that the maid had just picked from the garden in the morning, and whipped at the poor makeup mirror she imagined as the pair. Bright red petals fell to the ground.

Emma stood silently, watching the princess vent with a little sympathy. After all, this is probably the biggest and only time she has encountered something against her liking in her whole eighteen years of life.

This kind of catharsis is staged almost every day, but today, it seems that the princess has an exceptional temper. After almost all the roses in her hand were torn apart, she threw away the stems, jumped onto the soft feather mattress, and started crying.

"I hate James, I hate Regina, I hate my father!" She beat the pillow hard and added another person to her hate list.

Emma was startled slightly: "Why the King?"

"He let her go!" Snow lifted her face abruptly, her red and swollen eyes filled with tears, "He didn't punish that nasty woman! He should’ve at least put her in a dungeon!"

"The king is very kind." Emma didn’t feel any comfort. Since that day, she has never had a chance to see Regina again, and she doesn't know how she is doing now.

"His kindness is simply too much! People are laughing at him behind his back!"

"No one will laugh at the king because he is kind." The huntress tried to comfort her.

"People don’t laugh at him because of _that_ ," Snow continued angrily. "They said it was not his child at all. How could he let her go because of this!"

Emma froze for a moment: "Child?"

"The child in Regina! She’s pregnant!"

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

The female hunter stuffed a handful of hay into the elk's mouth. This gentle big-horned beast was what she caught from the woods the other day. An area was deliberately circled in the imperial garden to raise animals, big and small, and Snow would occasionally come here to play with them when she was in a good mood.

Maybe it's because it is not used to living in the palace, maybe it's because it has lost its precious freedom, the elk had been sick recently. Emma was worried and took the time to take a look. After checking the elk, she should go back to Snow’s chambers, but she really didn't want to face the coquettish princess’s crying all day, she needed to breathe.

It was a late autumn afternoon, the sun was warm, bright but not dazzling. Now that the weather is so better, Emma decided to take a walk in the garden and relax even though she was supposed to be by Snow’s side. So be it, she smiled bitterly, not worried that Snow might add her name to her hate list.

The imperial garden is bigger than she imagined. Although the weather is getting colder, it is still lively, decorated with exotic flowers and plants carefully planted by the royal gardeners. After making a few turns, she found that she was getting farther and farther away from the way she came, to a place that she had never passed by.

There is a small lake here, the water mirror-like, two elegant white swans combing their feathers with their beaks on the lake, and on the shore, there is a long couch, a woman lying there basking in the sun.

Emma's heart jumped, and she couldn't help but walk slowly towards the woman and didn’t stop until she reached the couch. It was the dark-haired woman. Without warning, she met her again by chance, just like when they first met in the forest.

The queen lay flat on the couch with her legs stretched out, head resting on a light orange cushion. She wore a blue-gray dress that was much more sophisticated than her horseback riding uniform. The fluffy hem was inlaid with a circle of gold embroidery, her long dark tresses slightly curling and draped over her shoulders. Her beautiful eyes were closed tightly at the moment, thick eyelashes were hanging down on her eyelids, the shadow cast making her face look pale and lifeless.

This was the first time a blonde woman has looked at the queen's face so carefully. From her perspective, the line of her jaw was simply perfect.

Worried about disturbing the woman’s rest, Emma didn't dare to speak but stood quietly watching. She stood in the backlight, the shadows falling onto the body of the half-sleeping queen.

"You blocked the sun." Regina said suddenly, eyes still closed, but she seemed to see everything, "What are you doing here maid?"

"I'm sorry," the blonde woman quickly turned her gaze away from the woman. She looked around and scratched her head. "I, I seem to be lost."

Regina finally parted her long eyelashes and smiled dryly: "The vast forest doesn't bother you, but you got lost in a garden." Her tone of speech was significantly flatter than the mockery it held. As if she doesn’t even bother to waste the slightest feeling on the blond.

This made the huntress even more uneasy. She would rather see the dark-haired woman furious, like her slap that day, than face an emotionless and distant queen.

Still not knowing what to say, she moved her feet awkwardly, her shadow no longer being a barrier between the dark-haired woman and the sun.

Regina glanced at the blonde woman's guard uniform. "I thought the king would give you a more important position. After all, you are his hero tasked of hunting down the queen."

Emma shook her head: "That was never my purpose for betraying you." Her purpose was to try to rescue her eldest brother from the battlefield, but she didn't want to explain too much to the queen. Would her good intentions change the nature of the betrayal? Of course not.

"I heard that you are now very close to Snow."

Emma smiled bitterly: "I feel more like a zookeeper."

"Life in the palace isn’t as simple as you think, is it?" The dark-haired woman said, holding the armrest of the soft couch and slowly getting up, she walked a few steps towards the lakeshore. She stared at the two white swans in a daze, "If they feel disappointed, they can fly away at any time and choose a place to spend the winter. This alone is enough to make people envious." Her voice was soft, softer than the morning mist floating in the forest.

A gust of wind blew from the lake, wrinkling the water, and Regina couldn't help but shiver. Emma quickly took off the cloak and put it on her shoulders. The touch made the brunette frown slightly, and the huntress hurriedly let go of her hand: "Is your wound still hurting?"

"Why don't we avoid this hypocritical concern." Regina didn't look back.

"This is not fake girly..." Emma blurted out before realizing the faux pas, and quickly changed her words: "Your Highness..."

Regina turned and stared at the other woman closely. "Do you still think you did the right thing?"

The female hunter did not immediately answer. She remembered her elder brother who was about to return from the front line. She imagined the family reunion, and nodded slowly, "Yes."

The dark-haired woman hummed, "Then at least one of us can get a good night's sleep."

Emma sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn’t know..."

The black-haired woman quickly glanced at her: "I don't know what?"

The huntress didn't answer, but her eyes fell on the brunette’s abdomen, which was still flat. She must be so anxious to cross the border because of the child because the child's father is on the other side of the border.

"Put away your skeptical eyes, Emma," Regina said solemnly, "Since you have always regarded me as a slut, why don't you just ask me why if the child in me is probably not the King's, why he doesn’t even care?"

"It's not my turn to question anything, Your Highness," Emma said quickly. She regretted saying so many unkind words in front of the dark-haired woman. Of course, she did not fabricate anything, but she did feel the pleasure of verbal revenge in those too sharp comments.

Regina raised her chin proudly: "It really is not your turn." She smiled contemptuously. "So, what is the meaning of your so-called apology? Would you have made a different choice if you knew?" This time, the ridicule in her voice was ready to burst.

Emma didn't say a word, they all knew what the answer would be.

"It makes no sense." Regina shook her head slightly, and then turned around, brushing her fingers on her shoulders, the leopard skin cloak fell to the ground. She stepped forward, stepping on the cloak mercilessly, and passed by the huntress, disappearing in the distance.

Two guards came out of nowhere and followed closely behind the queen——they were the ones watching her.

With a flutter, the two white swans on the lake suddenly spread their wings and flew up. After chasing each other a few times, they went straight south and disappeared into the blue sky.


	9. The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR RAPE AND TORTURE, THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET INTENSE SO CLOSE THIS TAB RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE EASILY AFFECTED BY ANY OF THESE ELEMENTS.

"The child in my stomach might not be the King's, but why doesn't he care?" As Regina walked, she kept repeating the conversation with Emma in her head. She had asked herself this question countless times but still, she doesn't know the answer.

After checking to see that she had stepped out of the huntress's sight, the dark-haired woman gradually slowed down. She knew someone was following behind her, but she doesn’t care. After crossing a few paths, she soon returned to her chambers.

The doctor carrying a tray of medicine was already waiting at the door, "Your Highness, it's time to change your dressings."

Regina didn't look at him, and went straight to the door: "There is no need."

The doctor looked vexed, "Your highness, if your wounds don't heal properly, His Majesty the King would blame me for them!"

"Oh, how kind of him." Regina sneered.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

**Regina's hands were hanging above her head, shackled to the two iron chains attached to the ceiling. The chains weren’t long enough, and the skin on her wrists were broken quickly . She stood on her toes, trying to relieve the pain caused by the excessive stretching in her shoulders.**

**She was brought here after returning to the palace. She had never been to this place before. It was dark and damp, filled with a faint smell of blood. She didn’t expect such a magnificent palace to have such a place.**

**In front of her was a table, heavy stains that made it impossible to identify the material of the table. On the table, there are some tools littered. From the look of them were enough to make people feel afraid.**

**Regina didn't know how long she had been hanging there. The King hadn’t appeared when she was first brought back. Of course, now she could no longer escape, why would he rush?**

**The door in front of her creaked** **open** **, revealing the King’s stormy** **face** **. Now, her punishment had finally begun.**

**The king looked at his wife coldly, and stepped behind her quickly. The brunette shivered involuntarily. She leaned forward, her shoulders** **were** **pulled** **tightly against** **the chain** **s,** **hurting even more. Immediately afterwards, there was a** **loud** **tearing** **sound and a cold rush to her back. Her upper garments were torn, the broken fabric hung on her arms, and her entire back was exposed to the cold and humid air.**

**" _Seven_ days," the king breathed into her ear, "You left the palace for _seven_ days." He snorted, the air blowing onto Regina's face, giving her goosebumps.**

**After speaking, he walked around the table, and stretched out his right hand, slowly hovering over the tools, seeming to be thinking about what method should be used to punish his disobedient wife. In the end he chose a dark leather whip and came back behind the brunette.**

**Regina felt her muscles stiffen all over her body, her heart beating fiercely, her breathing accelerated, every cell in her body screamed silently, waiting for the coming flogging.**

**"Crack!" After a crisp sound, the dark-haired woman felt her back burn, only after a few seconds did the sharp pain register.**

**The whip was made of black leather and soaked in water. It was tough and hard, and with barbs as thin as cow hair on the whip. One whip down and her back was torn, blood splattering across the room.**

**Before she could take a breath, Leopold had raised his hand and whipped her again.**

**"Uh..." Regina let out a** **low,** **barely audible grunt, her endurance ma** **de** **the King even more furious. "You bitch!" He yelled and waved the whip** **continuously** **, "You ran to the border just to look for that brat, you like being fucked by him so much?"**

**The black-haired woman sneered, "Of course, he is _so_ much better than you."**

**Leopold's anger rose tenfold, but his lower body swelled up in these intense emotions. He gripped the whip tightly, a drop of blood falling silently from its handle to the ground. Suddenly, he strode over to the woman, pressing himself to her back, the bloody smell from the fresh wounds exciting him even more. He lifted the skirts of her riding clothes impatiently.**

**Regina realized what was going to happen,** **and** **this time she truly started panicking.**

**A stiff hardness was thrusted abruptly at her dry entrance, the pain of the sudden intrusion stopped her breathing for an instant.**

**However, she soon discovered that it was not a part of her husband's body, but something harder and much more rough... the long wooden handle of the whip.**

**"No!" The black-haired woman twisted her body in horror, trying to get rid of the hard object despite the sharp pain.**

**The King gripped the handle with one hand, pulling her hair up with the other so she had to turn her face and look at him, "Oh now you’re scared?" he sneered in her face, enjoying the pained expression occupying her beautiful features. His hand thrusted again, an inch of the handle sinking into her core.**

**"I’m not..." Regina breathed. Her eyes burned, her entire body was on fire, but she can’t give in, she just can’t.**

**The King let go of her hair and Regina slumped forward, taking a deep breath. Before she could let it out he shove a third of the handle deeply into her. Regina screeched through her tightly clenched jaw.**

**His warm breath filled her ear, “You lying bitch,” he growled. Regina squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the pain. Her eyes flew open as cruel fingers dug into the wounds on her back, her core involuntary clamping down on the burning intrusion. She howled.**

**“How about now, hmm?” The king didn’t leave his position beside her ear. He reached** **forward** **with a hand coated with Regina's blood and felt around on the table, grabbing something. A thin cane was lifted in front of Regina, her confusion apparent as she tried to hold back her tears. She ignored him and tried to turn away, staring into a dark corner of the room.**

**A sudden prodding at her other entrance made Regina’s eyes widen. _It can’t be…_ that was a place that no one has ever touched, and no one had _ever_ thought of touching. “No…”**

**But when it came to his wife, the King’s cruelty had no limits.**

**Regina screamed, tears pouring from her eyes as he thrusted the handle of the whip into her core, at the same time forcing the wooden cane into her virgin hole, violating her in a way no one had ever attempted** **to** **.**

**The brunette’s piercing screams never stopped through the continuing thrusts, her lower body felt like it were tearing apart. Her resistance crumbled at that instant. “Nononono** **no!** **No! No! Please stop! Please!”**

**Leopold grinned at his wife, her submissive posture and frantic** **begging** **making his lower body** **swell** **. He quickened his thrusts, watching with sick satisfaction as both whip and cane went in and out of the brunette’s** **tight holes with increasing difficulty, the brunette’s muscles seizing instinctively against the pain** **.**

**Regina sobbed uncontrollably, hardly registering the pleas tumbling out of her mouth“——Please, please stop! I beg you! It hurts so much! Please I’ll do anything! Please! I’m pregnant!”**

**The thrusts immediately stopped, Leopold was stunned, "What?"**

**"I'm pregnant." The dark-haired woman gasped out. She gave up. Of course she didn't expect the king to believe without a doubt that the child was his, she only hoped that he would have a last bit of pity.**

**Unexpectedly, the king not only pulled out the objects in her, but also immediately untied the iron shackles on her wrists. The sudden freedom made the dark-haired woman stagger, and the king held her weight, “Careful!" Regina even felt a concern that she had never had before in this one word.**

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Regina stood in the middle of the room in a daze. The doctor saw an opportunity and hinted at the jittery-looking maid standing beside her. The latter hurriedly walked to the queen and began to undress her. The gorgeous dress was removed, only a white petticoat remained. The maid carefully unbuttoned the back of the petticoat, and the criss-cross lash wounds were revealed.

The wound was a little black, but the doctor checked and said it was a good sign, an indication that they were scabbing and slowly healing. "As long as they are properly cared for, surface wounds won't leave deep scars." He said with relief. He then took the ointment for treating wounds from his tray of medicine.

The black-haired woman laid on a couch, her chin pressed against the armrest, no longer refusing the doctor’s help. A feather dipped in medicine gently stroked the broken flesh, she couldn’t even feel the pain. "No matter how serious the body injury is, it will always get better." She stared at a stain on the carpet that was missed by the cleaning maids, as if she were talking about someone else. Her most private parts throbbed painfully, unbeknownst to anyone else in the room.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

The huntress struggled to find a way out in the garden, every cobblestone path through the lawn all looked the same. In the process, she met an acquaintance unexpectedly. The latter is obviously more pleasantly surprised than her.

"Emma? Is it really you?" The speaker was a middle-aged man in his forties, calm and strong, with a few whites in his dark brown hair. He was a fellow hunter who has been in the palace for many years, and is now a captain in the guard. Emma's second brother Henry was brought into the palace by him.

"Oh my god, it's great to meet you Thomas, please tell me how to get out of this damn garden." The huntress looked around in frustration.

Thomas smiled, "Follow me." he started to lead the way.

The two slowly walked through the deep royal garden, and naturally, they talked about the person who was important to both of them. "Henry must have never imagined that you will also become a guard in the palace." Thomas said with feeling.

Emma sighed slightly, remembering how her second brother used to puff his chest in front of her, showing off his uniform as a royal guard, but because of his position, in the end he died. Anger slowly rose up her heart, and the slight regret she had for Regina faded.

"I always felt sorry for you and your family," Thomas walked ahead, the huntress couldn't see his expression, but she could clearly feel the sincere guilt in his tone, "If I hadn't introduced him to the palace, perhaps he would’ve still been alive now. Even life as a farmer can ensure that his head stays on his neck. He was a simple boy, a farmer’s life actually sounded more suitable for him than that of a royal guard."

"It's not your fault," Emma kicked a stone on the path. "It was the queen who killed Henry. She seduced him and he lost his life."

The captain of the guard stopped abruptly, and Emma almost ran into him, "What's the matter?"

Thomas turned around: "It could be said that Henry lost his life because of the queen, but it did not happen the way you are thinking."

"What do you mean?"

"I have been very familiar with your little brother. I knew for a while that he must’ve been in love. You know, the silly symptoms that all youngsters showed when they’ve fallen in love, he had them all. So I asked him which girl got so lucky, but he refused to say anything. I joked with him at the time, but then I realized that it was not that he refused to say, but that he could not say..."

The huntress couldn't help interrupting him: "Wait, you are implying that my brother was in love with the queen?" She was shocked and resisted such an outrageous thought.

"You’ve met her, she is a very beautiful woman, every part of her radiates charm, it's no surprise that Henry fell for her."

"But she sleeps around, and treats men as her playthings...How could my little brother fall in love with such a woman? He must have been aware of this for so long in the palace." Emma couldn't help raising her voice.

Thomas waved her hand and motioned to her to be quiet, "I understand your doubts. I‘ve also asked other guards. Some of them had been with her before. When I asked if your brother and the queen have any special relationship, they all laughed their bellies off and told me that every time Henry saw the queen, he was stunned. The queen was always very impatient when she caught him staring. In her eyes, he was just a stupid little boy, she hardly even looked at him when she passed by him."

_If this was just wishful thinking, why did Henry lose his life? Even those who had slept with the queen were still living well, why did he happen to die?_

Thomas turned around, looked into the huntress’s confused eyes, and slowly told her what he knew, "The king’s behavior towards the queen isn’t… how do I phrase this. Sometimes when we stand guard in the corridor outside her chambers, we can hear her painful screams."

"The king…... "

"Whatever their relationship is like, no one dares to ask, after all, he is our king." The implication was clear, even the queen was just an accessory of the king’s. 

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

**That night, it was Henry's turn to stand guard. Once again, the queen's cries rang from the other side of the door. Torches were positioned on the walls of the corridor, flames constantly shivering in the onslaught of the wind. The atmosphere was heavy, but the pacing boy’s mood was even heavier.**

**His love for her could never be changed even though she had never noticed him. He felt a sense of self-pity and satisfaction for his humble and deep love, but was soon hurt by the weakness of this so-called love——she was being tortured only a few meters away from him. But as always, nothing can be done.**

**The cries became sharper and sharper, as if more pain was expressed through the cries.**

**Henry clenched his fists. He had always been so cowardly and weak. He didn't even dare to look up at her whenever the queen passed. Once, she seemed to be in a very good mood. She even spoke to him and asked for his name, but he heard his own stammering struggle to reply, which caused the queen to laugh uncontrollably, calling him a "bashful boy". Afterwards, everyone laughed at him for this, but whenever he thought of the queen’s special title for him, a hint of tenderness and sweetness would involuntarily float in his heart.**

**"Ah!" Letting out a piercing cry, the queen’s voice stopped abruptly. The young guard was taken aback for a second. A huge wave of anxiousness swept over him, evoking a sudden bravery in his heart. This time, something must be done.**

**Urged by that sudden courage, he rushed into the queen's chambers and tore the king's hands off her neck.**

**The two occupants in the room were dumbfounded for a while. The queen was half sitting on the bed. The disheveled dressing gown on her body did not serve as a cover at all. Her eyes were red and her face was still wet with tears; the king quickly reacted after recovering his anger and shock, "Guards!" he shouted. The guards on the other end of the corridor heard the call and rushed in immediately, knocking Henry to the ground……**

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

"This was the reason why your second brother was dead, not because of any love affairs between him and the queen, but because he attacked the king." Thomas concluded. The king was not wrong in executing a guard who attacked him. It was Henry’s fault and his fault alone.

The female hunter was stunned, for a long time she stood there motionless, then murmured: "But why didn't you tell me this before?" They met at Henry's funeral.

"You all believe that the queen killed him. Sometimes, hatred can alleviate grief." He tried to ease their grief with a white lie. And it worked.

"But, this is not right..." Something in Emma's heart seemed to have been suddenly taken out, and she felt a little weak. Without the support of this hate, she only had deep guilt for Regina. Because of this guilt, she drank a few more glasses of barley when Thomas invited her to dinner.

The food in the palace was good, but the barley wine couldn't compare to the pot that the huntress brought back to the forest hut from the town that day. As she was drinking, talking and laughing with the guards, her mind flashed to the fireplace in the hut in the woods, the dark-haired woman's calm features outlined by the soft glow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I might've lost motivation on this... Don't get me wrong I'm still gonna upload new chapters but I won't do so too frequently, so definitely not 3 chapters a day like what I'm doing right now. No one sees this fic anyway.


	10. The Figure

Regina was lying on her bed. It was dawn, and the silky curtains filtered the oblique sunlight into a soft brightness, rays landing on her pillow. She stretched out her hand and touched the ray of light, her mind was fuzzy, as if everything was a dream. Ever since she had become pregnant, she felt like she could almost fall asleep at any moment.

Suddenly, a series of rapid footsteps awakened her from her dazed mental state, and she blinked as she watched two men walk into her room. Her husband was in the lead. Five or six steps behind the king, a man in a black cloak was quietly sizing up the young queen. He was short, his face was mostly hidden in the shadow of his hood, only exposing a fleshless chin.

"What’s the matter?" Regina sat up and stared at the strange man in black, then turned to her husband confusedly.

The king ignored her and turned around. "Can we start?" he asked the cloaked man eagerly.

The man nodded and walked slowly towards her. "Don't be nervous, Your Royal Highness." He grinned weirdly, showing jagged yellow teeth.

Regina stared at him. His face was weird, there were no wrinkles and she cannot guess his age. Instead of human flesh, scaly skin shined with a dark green light. A feeling of fear flashed through her mind, and she suddenly realized that she had seen this man before.

**It was a summer afternoon eight years ago. Regina and her stableboy boyfriend had finally stopped by a small river after galloping for a long time. Their panting horses lowered their heads and drank water happily, as their riders hid in the shade of an old banyan tree, eagerly kissing with slight awkwardness like two thirsty teenagers.**

**Regina turned and unintentionally caught a glimpse of a black cloaked man who stood on a small slope across the river, staring at them emotionlessly. His eyes shone with greed, ecstaticity and gloat, the combined gaze burned into Regina like a laser.**

**"Daniel, look, there is a strange man over there." Regina said unhappily.**

**Her boyfriend raised his head from between her neck and was about to follow Regina's gaze, but the horses suddenly neighed, becoming restless and splashing water everywhere with their kicks. Regina and Daniel ran to hold the reins, but after finally calming down the horse, the man was long gone.**

**Regina didn't pay much attention to this little episode, and after some more cuddling and kissing, she and her boyfriend carefully returned to her estate.**

**Three days later, the king’s guards knocked on the door of the Mills’ estate, bearing the news of the king’s marriage proposal.**

Now, this person had appeared before her eyes again. Before Regina could react, the man had already walked briskly to the end of her bed. He stretched out his right hand at her, palm almost touching the black-haired woman's lower abdomen. Although it was a finger away, Regina could still feel a cold air coming from his palm. Suddenly, as if he were bitten, the man retracted his hand quickly. Staring at Regina’s stun face, he smiled in satisfaction.

He then turned his head and smiled at the king who had been watching all this closely, "Congratulations Your Majesty, it's a boy."

It wasn’t hard for anyone to see that the king was extremely excited, his eyes were almost crazy with ecstasy. He came to his wife, and said in a tone of gentle grace that she had never heard from him before, "Did you hear her, Regina? A boy!" He let out a sigh of relief, "Finally!"

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Emma walked into the imperial garden, a fresh apple in her hands. This time, she had already memorized the way and took the path to the garden where the animals were kept.

From afar, she saw a dark-haired figure standing there, holding a branch and teasing a sika deer. At first she thought it was Snow, only but when the woman turned, did she realize that it was the queen. This surprised her a little.

"I didn’t know that you also like to play with the critters, I would’ve caught more if I had known earlier." Emma said, walking over quickly.

"Let the poor animals stay in the forest," Regina dropped the branch in her hand. "I just thought that this is a place where I can find you without attracting unwanted attention."

Emma heard something in her words. The king has eyes everywhere in the palace. If Regina had deliberately come to find her, she might be reported to the king by those who saw her. Although there is nothing ulterior between them apart from their grievances to each other.

"What is this?" Regina asked, staring at the apple in Emma's hand.

"An apple." The answer is too obvious.

"Of course I know it’s an apple." The queen couldn't help rolling her eyes. "What are you doing here with an apple?"

Emma tossed the apple in her hand high and caught it accurately. The queen once again rolled her eyes at her show-off. Emma smiled and whistled to the east. After a while, a listless elk with the big horns on its head walked out lazily from behind the bushes. "The apple for this big guy. It’s his favorite meal when he is asleep."

The elk walked to Emma, sniffed the apple in her hand, and then stuck out its thick tongue and rolled the apple into its mouth.

Emma and Regina stood side by side, watching the big elk methodically chewing the apple. "You owe me, Emma." The dark-haired woman suddenly said.

"What?" Emma was confused.

"No matter what you believe, I still saved your life, you owe me." The queen turned to the blonde woman and glanced at her leopard skin cloak.

Emma nodded: "Uh, _yeah_. Although I was brazen at the time, it was dangerous enough when I thought of the incident afterwards. So, yes, I owe you, Your Highness… What should I pay? At least I know you don't want this cloak." She turned and examined her cloak, the footprints of the queen still apparent on the rosette fur.

Regina didn't react to the blonde woman's teasing. "I want you to investigate someone for me." She said simply.

"Who?"

"A man."

Regina carefully described the physical appearance of the mysterious cloaked man. "He must be very important to the king. I want to know who he is and why he and the king are so excited about my unborn child." When she spoke, she subconsciously stroked her flat abdomen.

Regina knew that the king had always hoped that she could give birth to a hier. For a king without a male heir, this is not hard to understand. But she knew he wasn't foolish enough to forget the two months she was associating with James. They both knew that the chance of the child being James’ was much greater than it being the his. 

Leopold would never let a child not of his bloodline inherit his throne, and Regina could better understand if the king had wanted to force the child out of her. Everything is too unreasonable, she must know the truth as it concerns not only her, but her child too!

"I promise you, I will help." Emma nodded solemnly after hearing the queen's explanation.

Regina stared deeply into the hazel eyes of the blonde woman, "You have trampled on my trust in you when you informed the cavalry of my whereabouts, you even brought me to them yourself. Yet here I am, willing to trust you once more. I hope this time, you won't let me down."

"Never. I still owe you, do I not?" Emma smiled sadly. Seeing that the brunette stayed silent, she hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help but ask, "Actually, even if I don't owe you anything, as long as you told me that my little brother's death had nothing to do with you, I would’ve helped you. I’m sorry I misunderstood."

Regina was obviously stunned. She paused for a few seconds before asking: "So now you know?"

Emma nodded: "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Regina’s voice wavered, she said faintly, "Henry is dead. As for how he died, there isn’t much to say." She didn't look at blonde women when she spoke. She never liked to explain to people who misunderstood her. Justifying herself feels undignifying, as if she cares how much others think of her!

The blonde woman seemed to see her thoughts, "I know you don’t necessarily care how a person like me looks at you, but it makes me feel bad, I treat you as a bad person, I took your words at face value and trampled on your trust in me. I just wanted to do something that I thought was right, but you made me an out-and-out asshole."

"So now I need to apologize to you?" Regina suddenly raised her eyes and stared at the blond.

Emma’s eyes met those brown orbs that were full of contempt. After a while, she sighed and said softly, "No, I’m the one that should be apologizing. I’ve always wrongfully blamed you for his death."

The atmosphere between the two seemed to ease slightly. Regina redirected her gaze to the small patch of grass around her toe, "Although I am not the main culprit, but your brother still died because of me. I’ve never noticed him, never noticed his feelings for me..." She sucked in a breath and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Compared to feelings, I seem to be better at communicating physically."

"Physical things are indeed simpler." Emma suddenly understood the queen's reason for indulging herself. She couldn't afford complicated feelings, so she sought temporary relief from simple physical derailments.

"So you will help me investigate that man, right?"

"Yes, I will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: The identity of the figure is revealed, Emma fulfills her duty as ‘zookeeper’, and Snow adds people to her hate list.


	11. The Eavesdropping

Although Emma agreed to the queen's request, it was not an easy task. Many people have said that they’ve seen the mysterious black-hooded man going in and out of the court. After all, his peculiar appearance radiates an unforgettable and unsettling aura. But everyone she talked to knew very little about his true identity and his relationship with the king.

Emma even managed to ask the princess. She pretended to talk about the subject casually.

"Oh, I know that ugly monster, he makes me uncomfortable." Even though she only mentioned him in words, Snow still couldn't help but curl her lips in disgust. "I was very young when I first saw him, it was probably..." She tried to recall, "Not long before Regina married my father." Snow’s two eyebrows tightened when she spoke of her stepmother's name, "I wish she never appeared in my life. I really don't understand why my father wanted to marry that woman. At that time, so many princesses and noble ladies wanted to marry him, but he _had_ to choose her!"

Even as a middle-aged widower, the status of a king still gave Leopold too many choices. He may not pay so much attention to the identity and wealth of the woman. After all, he doesn’t lack these two things at all.

"Perhaps, it's because of beauty?" Emma suggested carefully.

Snow made a noise of disgust, "Well, she does look pretty good, after all, this is also the capital of her lack of restraint. However, when my father decided to marry her, he hadn't even seen her."

She clearly remembered that on the summer night when she was ten years old, her father had come to her room, took her hand, and softly told her a decision, He had decided to marry the daughter of a declining nobleman, and hoped that Snow would not therefore question his deep love for her mother.

**"What kind of person is she?" Snow pouted, red lips curled with a trace of hostility, but she couldn’t help being curious.**

**"I don't know, I haven't met her yet. I hope she’s not an ugly monster, but," the king smiled and squeezed his daughter's chin affectionately. "I'm pretty sure no woman in our kingdom can compare to my daughter, you are, of course, the most beautiful of all the realms."**

**Snow laughed, feeling much better.**

**The wedding was not grand, after all, this was not the first time the king got married. Snow leaned on tiptoes and looked down the railing of the balcony. She wore a light blue satin dress, the bright red bow on the top of her head matched the color of her lips.**

**At noon, the bride's convoy came in from the gate, a decorated and magnificent carriage stopped in front of the steps. Her father walked out to greet them. The carriage door opened, and a black-haired woman got out of the carriage. She wore a beautiful white wedding dress, diamonds shone like droplets of morning dew around the hem of the magnificent dress. SHe was so young that even Snow was a little surprised.**

**"She's not much older than me, I don't want to call her "mother"." She told the old nanny next to her.**

**The nanny shrugged disapprovingly: "Well, you don't need to call her that." She was a loyal servant of the former queen, which made her dislike the new queen immediately for no reason.**

**"Then what should I call her?"**

**"Regina, her name is Regina." The nanny sniffed, her entire face wrinkled.**

**Snow decided that she doesn’t like Regina, but she really liked the dress on her. At the wedding banquet, Snow fluttered through the crowd like a butterfly, a deliberately innocent smile on her face and a glass of pomegranate juice in her hand. The red juice looked very tasty.**

**From time to time, she would quietly look at the young queen sitting next to her father. She was beautiful, but she didn't have the joy that a bride should have on her face. Those beautiful brown eyes were filled with overwhelming anxiety and a touch of sadness.**

**Then, after she accidentally turned around, Snow ran into his stepmother, the glass of pomegranate juice in her hand immediately bled onto a large area on the snow-white wedding dress. "Ah!" Regina exclaimed and stood up subconsciously.**

**The king frowned slightly and pulled his daughter away from his bride, "Oh, why are you so careless!"**

**"I didn't mean it! Father, it's just an accident!" Snow pleaded, pouting.**

**"You didn't get hurt, did you?" the king asked with concern. But he didn't notice that his newly married wife standing awkwardly beside their father and daughter in a wet dress.**

**Snow was a little proud, and cast a winner’s smile at Regina. To her surprise, her stepmother was not angry, but smiled at her, "What a lovely girl." Her voice was low and soft, which made Snow a little stunned for a while.**

After so many years, Snow still feels that she doesn't actually like Regina, but surprisingly, she couldn’t deny that she cares about Regina very much. She couldn't explain the complicated feelings, and now there is no need to explain, because she completely hates her! She robbed her of her father _and_ her fiance. Gods, no one is more hated than her! Snow stood up anxiously and walked out.

"Where are you going?" Emma followed closely.

"To find my father!" She is going to find her father and relive their father-daughter bond, hoping that this will give her a little comfort.

It is obvious that the king's bedroom is much larger and more stylish than the princess's room. Emma has never been to Regina's chambers, but it is obviously impossible to change her current conclusion.

The king was in a good mood, and his daughter's arrival made him happier. The two talked for a while and started one of the favorite activities between father and daughter —— chess. After each of them had won once, the decisive match began. Just as the two were focused on fighting, the guard brought in a man in black.

Emma’s heart raced when she looked at the man, isn’t this the man she was investigating about?

When the king saw the man in black, his eyes seemed to brighten, and he no longer wanted to play with his daughter: "Let's stop here today, we can continue tomorrow." He stood up.

Snow tugging at his father's sleeve: "But we still haven’t decided on a winner!”

The king waved his hand impatiently: "Go back to your room!"

Snow blushed indigatenly. She had almost never received such a cold attitude from her father. It must be because of the child in Regina's belly. Even if it had not yet been born, it had already taken away years of her father's love for her! gritting her teeth, Snow turned around and ran out.

"Did you bring the stuff?" The king asked anxiously as soon as his daughter left.

The man took off the hood of the cloak slowly, revealing his impressionating face. "Of course." He said with a grin, and took out a piece of yellowed parchment from the confines of his cloak.

The king grabbed it impatiently and opened it, "Are these all the things?"

"Of course, this matter is not as complicated as people think. If it weren't for the lack of the most important thing, we would have done it a long time ago." The cloaked figure was a little pretentious, "Of course, only a great wizard like me will find it uncomplicated."

"I hope you are as good as you said." The king hesitated a little, as if making an important decision.

The cloaked man was a little unhappy, "Doubt won’t help the whole thing."

"Don’t blame me, you let me marry Regina. Among so many women, you chose her specially, telling me the story of straw spinning gold thread, and that she was born with the potential of magic. But for so many years, I haven't seen her conjure any magic, and she has never been able to get pregnant, is it not enough to make me suspect that your choice is wrong?" The king said with dissatisfaction.

The cloaked man laughed unkindly: "I have chosen your queen for you, but I can't let her have a baby with you right away. After all, you have to work hard for this."

The king glared at him bitterly. After a while, he concealed his anger, and then asked, "You said that even if the child is not my own, it makes no difference, does it?"

"Oh, of course there is a difference," the man smiled, "but it's just that there will be some differences in the process, the result will still be the same."

The king seemed satisfied by the answer and nodded slowly. Next, he didn't say anything, and the cloaked man quickly retreated.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Emma followed closely behind the princess. However, what she didn't expect was that Snow did not really leave after she fled the king's chambers. After walking around the corridor, she suddenly turned back, bypassing the guards in the corridor, and came to the other end of the room. Above the stone wall, there is a small hole. Not big enough to stick a head in, but through this hole, you can clearly see and hear everything happening in the room.

But the only problem is that the small hole is at the top of the wall, and neither of them can reach.

"Climb up!" Snow lowered her voice and ordered.

Emma looked embarrassed. She may be a hunter, but she is not a monkey. Although she also wanted to figure out what kind of conversation the king and the cloaked figure would have. "You can climb up on my shoulder." Emma suggested.

Snow was stunned for a moment. Such a move was really not what a noble princess should do. However, curiosity eventually overruled her cultivation. She vaguely felt that this cloaked man would have a great impact on her life. Her life is bad enough, and she doesn't want any more ‘surprises’!

So, stepping on Emma's shoulders, she swayed and straightened up, peeking through the hole. Unfortunately, when she finally saw the scene in the house, she only heard the last words of the man. After he left, Leopold held up a strange piece of paper that was not like paper or cloth, and examined it carefully for a long time.

Emma tried to maintain her balance, but after a while, her legs began to tremble slightly, she was really afraid that Snow would fall, but before her worries happened, the princess crawled down slowly, chewing her lips tightly with a disappointed expression.

After they left the king's palace in silence and hurriedly and returned to Snow’s own room, Emma asked carefully, "What did you hear?"

Snow’s face was as white as her namesake, there was no trace of blood, she only heard a few words, and had no clue what happened at all. "I hate being kept in the dark, but I can't ask my father what's going on, he would know immediately that I’ve eavesdropped on their conversation." The dilemma turned all the indecisive emotions in the young princess into anger, "It was all that ugly monster’s fault, if it weren't for him, my father wouldn’t have married Regina, none of this would happen!" She squeezed her fist and hit it hard on the soft pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: More of Emma and Regina, mentions of non-con but nothing too graphic.


	12. The Parchment

Emma had never thought that things would turn out to be so absurd in the end. At this moment, she was holding her breath and shrank under the queen’s bed. Less than ten centimeters above her head, the bed was making a rhythmic squeaking sound. The huntress sighed helplessly. She doesn't have much time to cringe at her embarrassing situation. After all, she still has more important things to do. 

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

**"What did you say?" Regina stared at the huntress who was reporting to her with a puzzled look. "Born with potential magic?" She laughed as if she had heard a joke, her beautiful shoulders trembling slightly, "If I have magic, I think I would have conjured myself a pair of wings and flown away from this blasted place a long time ago. ."**

**"Do you think I'm deceiving you?" Emma was a little unhappy with her reaction, after all, this was the only news that she had found out after searching for so long.**

**"Of course not," Regina stopped smiling. "But, is Snow really telling you the truth? You didn't hear the conversation between Leopold and that man in person, did you?"**

**Emma nodded, but she didn't think that in that situation, the confused princess had the ability to lie.**

**They still meet at the ‘zoo’, Regina had deliberately picked two red apples from her beloved tree and brought them to the sick elk as an extra meal. "This is called honey crisp. I planted it myself." She explained to the blonde woman that this was not an ordinary apple.**

**"Only one enough for it." Emma reminded her.**

**"Oh", Regina looked at the apple left in her hand, and threw it at the blonde woman, "then this one’s for you."**

**Emma smiled as she caught the apple. She rubbed the apple against her clothes, opened her mouth, and took a big bite. "It's delicious."**

**"Go on, what else did they say about magic?" Regina waited for the blond to swallow the bite and then continued to ask.**

**Emma shook her head, "There isn’t anything more worth mentioning- oh wait, I think they mentioned something about straw spun into gold thread."**

**_Straw spun into gold thread?_ ** **Regina froze. Emma immediately caught the slight change in her expression: "What's the matter?"**

**"When I was very young, my mother once told me a story about the daughter of a miller. She learned magic and spun golden thread out of straw, using the money to save the kingdom that was about to go bankrupt, and married the king." Regina said and shook her head. "But this is just a child’s bedtime story, it’s only fictional." There may be countless different versions of this story.**

**So she decided to leave this alone for now, "What else? You said that the man in black gave the king a piece of parchment, what was written on it?"**

**"No one knows." Emma shook her head. Snow was also curious about the parchment. They had tried many ways to find out the content on the parchment, but nothing worked. "The king carried this parchment wherever he goes. No one but him has seen anything written on it."**

**Regina frowned, worried. A tiny newborn muntjac ran over wobbly, not afraid of anything. It ran next to her and rubbed the corner of her skirt. There was a softness in the queen's eyes. She squatted down and stroked the little yellow muntjac head gently. "Whatever the king plans to do, he needs an important thing, my baby, right?"**

**Emma understands her concerns, "I’m afraid you’re right."**

**Regina subconsciously stroked her belly, the king had deliberately wanted her to become pregnant, and didn't even mind that it was someone else's child. This was why he turned a blind eye to her love affairs. The king's intention may not be clear, but instinct told her that all this would not make her happy. She must protect her unborn child.**

**A thick cloud floated in the sky, blocking the sun, the sunlight that filtered through made the garden look bleak. The dark-haired women look even more preoccupied. Emma looked at her, feeling a little pity. Although she is the queen, Regina is not much different from any animal in this garden. She seems to have nothing to worry about, but she doesn’t have any freedom and has no say so in anything that happens in the palace. She can't even guarantee her child a safe future.**

**"Perhaps... there is one way for us to see that parchment." Emma suggested hesitantly. Once they knew what was on the paper, they might be able to guess what the king and the mysterious man were plotting about.**

**Regina raised her head and looked at her hopefully, "What is it?"**

**"The king must take off his clothes. This might give us a chance to get the parchment where he has hidden in his clothes."**

**Regina was taken aback, "But how?"**

**"You're his wife," Emma gave her a deliberate look. She felt that she didn't like this conversation, but she had to say it, "As a wife, there is always a way to get her husband undressed. "**

**These words made Regina stand up suddenly, she looked offended. The blonde woman saw a flash of resistance and disgust in the queen’s eyes, but when she thought that her idea would be overthrown, the queen squatted down again and hugged the little yellow muntjac at her feet. The little guy was cuddling her arms. Regina rested her chin rested on its soft head, her voice wasn’t high, but it was firm: "I can try. But I can't do this alone. You have to help me."**

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Which is why Emma was now hiding under the queen's bed.

Following Regina's instructions, she found a ladder in the bell tower on the roof of the palace. That was an important tool for James and the queen’s affair. Fortunately, it is still hidden in the same place.

Emma used this ladder to climb into Regina's bedroom when night fell. The latter opened the window long ago, waiting for her arrival.

"Are you sure the king will come tonight?" the blonde woman asked with uncertainty. She asked the princess for a short leave. If the task can’t be completed today, she was not certain whether she has a chance to slip out tomorrow.

"He comes to visit me every night now to make sure what he wants stays in my belly." Regina shrugged. This wasn’t real concern, she knows that. Fortunately, the king never touched her on his daily visits.

The queen's bedroom is about the same size as Snow’s room, but the furnishings inside are much simpler and more generous. A dark red carpet is spread from one end of the room to the other. In the center of the room was a big canopy bed. Next to the bed was a large full-length mirror, a dressing table, a recliner, and several other pieces of furniture, carved in peach wood. On the table was a tall brass candlestick with three candles lit. However, the main lighting was a huge chandelier hanging from the top. Numerous candles light up the room. bright.

Regina pointed under the bed. Emma scratched her head and got in. When the dark-haired woman covered the gap between the foot of the bed and the floor with a bed sheet, the king came.

Emma shrank under the bed, not daring to let out a sound.

"How was your day?" the king asked in a low voice.

"The same." Regina replied lightly. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, Emma looked out, just to see her feet, one over the other. She wore a pair of pearl white flats with a circle of light gray mink fur inlaid at the top of, and the two ankles were particularly slender surrounded by the circle of fluffy fur.

Then, Emma saw a pair of men's feet stepping on the expensive crimson carpet, and walked a few steps towards the bed. "The guard said you went to the garden to feed the elk?"

"I did."

"If you like, I can arrange for someone to grab a few more from the forest."

"One is enough, I don't have so many honey crisps to feed them." Regina's voice was still very flat.

The king gave a dry laugh, and then the two of them had nothing to say. Emma was a little worried that the king's clothes would not have a chance to be taken off, but, on the other hand, she thought it was also better that way.

Just when the men's feet turned to the door, the queen suddenly stood up and took a tentative step forward: "Leopold..." She called him.

"What's the matter?" The king stopped. Regina continued to approach him, and the two stood together. Emma heard the queen's voice softening: "I have been thinking about one thing these days, it was about this child..."

The king did not speak, and Regina continued: "Before, I thought you didn't care about me. Now, I discovered that maybe I was wrong. You love this child at least, don't you?"

The king hesitated and cleared his throat, "Of course."

Emma couldn't see the situation above the knees of the two of them, but saw the king's feet follow the queen to the bed, maybe Regina pulled him to the bed. "Let's try and start again, okay?" The queen's voice was gentle and full of seductiveness, and it was simply irresistible. Then, the feet of the two people were almost entangled together, and then there was the sound of the rubbing of the clothes. It didn't take long before the king's clothes fell in front of Emma's eyes. Immediately afterwards, the queen's white dressing gown also fell to the ground.

The space above her head became narrower. Emma can clearly feel the weight on the mattress, and the image in her mind made her face burn.

"Softer please..." The queen whispered timidly.

The king grumbled as a response, and then the bed began to squeak rhythmically.

For some reason, Emma suddenly wanted to rush out and drag the man on the bed away and punched him severely. She took a breath and suppressed the inexplicable impulse. _Focus, Emma!_ She warned herself in her heart that it was time.

The king's clothes were only an arm's distance from herself, and she carefully stretched out her hand, holding a corner of the clothes with two fingers, and gently drawing closer to herself. The metal buckle on the belt made a very subtle noise because of the movement, which made Emma take a deep breath and pulled it in slow motion. Finally, with clothes in hand, she quickly pulled out the parchment from one of her pockets. However, after opening the parchment, Emma was dumbfounded. She didn't understand any of the words written.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve got four exams in the next two days so naturally writing is more important than revising. Sorry for the mistakes… I was in a mood. Enjoy today’s triple upload! ~RL


	13. The Fangs

Like every time before, the king put on his clothes and quickly left the queen's chambers.

After guessing that the king was long gone, Emma got out under the bed. Her first glance was to check that Regina who was still lying on the bed: "Are you okay?" She asked carefully.

The dark-haired woman didn't say a word, she just laid face down , hiding almost her entire face in the pillow. The king didn’t bother to cover her upper body and she didn’t have the strength to do so either. The humiliation she felt by seducing her husband hurt way more than her previous fails at provocation.

Emma looked at her bare arm, the scar from the leopard was still vivid, "Hey, talk to me." She said nervously.

Regina did not change her posture, "I'm fine." Her voice was ragged, even though she hadn’t uttered a sound during the unwanted entercourse.

The blonde woman felt sorry. She watched the brunette's curves under the thin sheets, her calf was right next to her at a reachable distance. The two thin pale ankles surrounded by fur appeared in Emma's eyes again, and she couldn't help but want to touch them.

Just when her hand was about to touch the bed sheet, the dark-haired woman suddenly asked muffledly, face still buried in the pillow, "Did you see the parchment?"

"I saw it," Emma retracted her hand quickly as if she was scalded. "But, I didn't understand any of the words on it."

"What?" Regina suddenly turned over and sat up. She pulled the sheet to her chest, her eyes red, "What do you mean?"

"The words on it look like some kind of ancient writing, I have never seen it before." 

"So all of this tonight was for nothing." Regina said with difficulty, her arms sagged, and Emma couldn’t help but notice the brunette’s round breasts, no longer covered from the bedsheets. _Wait… are those handprints?_

Emma opened her mouth, but didn't say a word. The queen sat for a while, and suddenly fell backwards, exhausted, her long dark hair draping over the pillows. "You should go," she whispered weakly.

Without a different option, Emma walked to the window sill and opened the window. A cold wind rushed in. She grabbed the ladder and couldn't help looking back again when she stepped out, "Remember to close the window, it was quite cold at night." She whispered back.

But the queen still lay motionless, her eyes staring unseeingly at the gorgeous pattern of the bed canopy, Emma was unsure if she heard her.

The blonde woman sighed, kicked her leg, and left.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

That night, Emma tossed and turned, finally falling to sleep when dawn was about to break. Dazely, she thought she heard the continuous creaking of a bed board, two thin, white ankles kept shaking before her eyes. 

She opened her eyes.

The sky was already bright. She sat up wearily, rubbed her astringent eyelids, and spent a few minutes preparing for the day.

With the princess's permission, she rode out of the palace, with the reason that she was going to find a male elk in the forest as a companion for the female in the garden, but her real destination was a nearby town. That town was the most prosperous place in the neighborhood except for the palace. There was a bookstore in the town that specializes in collecting weird books.

The boss was an old man who talks crazily, she doesn’t know what he lives on, because as far as Emma knows, this bookstore has had no business at all. However, when the old man was sober, he can be regarded as the most knowledgeable person in the neighborhood, and he may be able to help her.

Emma found the bookstore smoothly. On the east side of the street, it was obviously not difficult to find the bookstore's tattered sign in a neat shop signboard.

She dismounted, tied the rein to the post at the entrance, and pushed the door into the store.

The entire store is full of books, on the counter, on the shelves, and even on the floor, there are all old and new books in different sizes. Some were so old that they looked like they would fall apart with a touch.

"Hi, anyone here?" Emma stepped away, carefully avoiding the pile of hardcover books under her feet, and walked to the counter.

A red-haired girl in her twenties came out from behind the counter with a friendly smile on her round face, "Oh, you need any books?" She was obviously interested in this customer, after all,, this felt like the first person to come here in decades.

"I'm not here to buy books."

Emma's answer diminished the light in the girl's eyes a bit, but she still smiled with a good temper, "Why are you here then?"

Emma took out a piece of white cloth from her arms, covered with crooked red words. These words were strange in shape, like some kind of ancient writing.

It turned out that last night, in desperation, the blonde woman pulled the white dressing gown that the queen had dropped on the floor, cut her finger, and drew the exact symbols on the parchment onto the dress, and then cut off a corner of the dress and hid it on her.

Emma didn't tell Regina about this, because she was really unsure whether anyone would recognize the words. She didn't want to disappoint the dark-haired woman again.

"I want your boss to help me see what is written on the cloth. Where is he?" Emma asked, looking around.

The red-haired cleared her voice, "My grandfather is out, but I can help you."

The suspicion in Emma's eyes made the girl peer at her disapprovingly. "The knowledge in a person's head is not directly proportional to the white beard on his face, you know."

Emma had to smile and handed the cloth over.

The red-haired girl looked down, and suddenly "Uh-huh"ed through her nose. Emma asked her what this "uh-huh" meant.

"This is some kind of elvish that hasn’t been used for a long time. I seem to recall seeing it in some kind of book. No, I am sure I have seen it in a book before."

"Oh, so which book is it?" Emma immediately asked.

The red-haired girl suddenly raised her face and smiled slyly: "Look, I have so many books here. If I want to translate for you, I have to spend a lot of time looking it up. I can't do this for nothing, right? "

"How much do you want?" Emma asked.

The girl stretched a palm, "Fifty gold coins." 

Emma chuckled, "Do you think I look like someone who can take out fifty gold coins?"

The girl squeezed the piece of white cloth with the words on it. She is a person who knows goods. This kind of cloth seems simple but is very sophisticated, "Maybe you can't, but the owner of this dress definitely can ."

A few minutes later, Emma came out of the bookstore. She couldn’t get the money, and she doesn’t plan to ask Regina. However, this did not prevent her from letting the red-haired girl translate the text for herself. "I will try to find a way for the money. But this doesn’t affect the time for you to search for that book, does it?”

The girl nodded, "It doesn’t."

Therefore, at this moment, Emma was walking on the street thinking of how to raise money. She noticed a group of people around a bulletin board. She walked through the crowd and found a notice posted on the bulletin board that someone was willing to spend a hundred gold coins to buy the fangs of a jungle leopard.

Emma paused, she heard people grumbling around the board, "There are a lot of beasts in the forest, but I‘ve never heard of jungle leopards in the area."

"If you see it everywhere, why would someone spend so much to buy it?" another person asked, "What I don’t understand is with so much money, why would they spend it on buying animal teeth?"

The blonde woman stepped back from the crowd, and while walking, she subconsciously touched a red string around her neck. The end of the rope is hidden in her clothes. No one except for her knows. The fangs of the leopard she and Regina had slain was now her pendant.

After hunting the leopard that day, she peeled off the skins and pulled out the two canines of the leopard, drilled the teeth, strung them on a rope, and hung them around her neck as a souvenir.

She knew that the jungle leopards were very rare, but never thought that was so rare that each tooth would be worth 50 gold coins. However, she didn't have the time to worry about it. Following the instructions on the notice, she successfully found the address of the buyer.

The buyer was a thin old man with dark skin. When Emma put the two fangs in front of the old man, his eyes lit up. He didn't even examine it carefully, and immediately took out a bag of gold and threw it on the table.

"Aren’t you going to check it out?" Emma was a little surprised by the other's generosity.

The old man carefully picked up the two teeth, put them in his arms, and glanced at the Emma's cloak: "A person wearing the furs of a jungle leopard, should naturally have fangs of a jungle leopard too."

Emma was doubtful of this strange old man. She felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't tell where the problem was: "What use do you have of these two teeth?"

The old man smiled slyly, revealing his jagged yellow teeth: "I didn't ask you how these two teeth came from, right?"

Emma shrugged helplessly, grabbed the bag, turned, and left.


	14. The Missing King

When the bookstore door was pushed open again, the red-haired girl found that it was Emma who had just left. She was a little surprised: "Huh, you’re _this_ quick?"

"I hope you can look up the dictionary faster than me." Emma walked to the counter with the heavy bag.

The red-haired girl leaned her arm on the counter and shook her head with a smile: "It’s not a dictionary, it's an ancient elvish book, but I don't care about the details. I just want to see how beautiful the fifty gold coins are stacked on the table."

Emma smiled slightly, took out a handful of gold coins from the purse, and stacked them on the table one by one. Ten of them were soon stacked in a pile, and five piles were lined up side by side. "Beautiful, right?"

"Yes indeed." The smile in the red-haired girl's eyes deepened. She picked up a gold coin and bit it with her teeth. After making sure it was authentic, she bent down and took out the white cloth left by Emma and a piece of paper from behind the counter. "I’ve already translated the text and written it on paper. The content isn’t very fascinating. It is more like a list of items, but the things are strange enough."

Emma took the piece of paper and looked at it: three drops of salamander tears, a fifty-year-old pearl, a handful of fluff on the wings of vampire bats... Almost everything listed was never seen before. After that, Emma frowned and continued to look down. Suddenly she froze, her eyes fixed on the last item on the list: _two jungle leopard’s fangs._

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

"Let me in!" Standing at the door of the king's chambers, Regina growled at the guard standing by in an almost threatening tone.

The guard looked embarrassed, but he did not give in, "I’m sorry, Your Royal Highness, the king said that he is meeting guests and forbade anyone to disturb him."

"Not even me?" Regina asked coldly. There was a rush of anger in her chest. Although she knew that it was not impossible to break in, what answer could she get from her husband? He would never answer any questions that were pressing on her chest.

During the stalemate, the sound of rapid footsteps came behind her, and a woman's voice: "Your Highness, let me accompany you back to the palace." The blonde guard bowed slightly.

The queen turned her head and glanced at her, her face still cold, "You are the princess's guard. It is not your duty to accompany me back to the palace."

"I serve the entire royal family."

After letting out a cold snort, Regina stepped away. Emma hurriedly followed behind. They walked through the corridor in silence, and when they were sure that the guards behind them would never see them again, Emma said softly: "I take the ridicule as a deliberate act you did in front of others."

"Oh, whatever you view that ridicule as, I don’t care." Regina said, stopped, and turned to look at the blond. "After getting up this morning, I found something peculiar. A corner of my dressing gown was inexplicably missing. It was cut off."

"Yes, it's a pity, that was a beautiful dress."Emma deliberately replied.

"Do you have a reasonable explanation for this?" Regina raised an eyebrow.

Emma smiled and told her about how she copied the weird text from the parchment on the white cloth. Before the dark-haired woman could get angry about it, she quickly explained her intention, "The reason why I didn't tell you, was that I don’t want to disappoint you again, I’m not sure I could find someone who can translate elvish."

Regina's eyebrows trembled slightly, "Since you know that it’s elvish, it seems that someone must understand it, right? What does it mean?"

"It’s a list of items," Emma said and gave the note with the translated text to the brunette. "Do you know what these items are for?"

Regina took the note and read it solemnly, her puzzled expression already gave Emma an answer to her question.

"What kind of stupid list _is_ this!" She cursed in a low voice. She tried so hard to get the parchment but hadn't expected it to cause even more questions.

"I think no one can give us the answer except the king and the cloaked man." Emma shrugged helplessly.

Hearing her mention the cloaked man, Regina explained the reason why she tried to break into the king’s bedroom: “I saw him enter the room with the king, damn it, I know they must be planning something, but I don’t know how to listen to them."

"Actually, there _is_ a way." Emma said and took Regina's hand. The dark-haired woman stiffened at the sudden contact, unfamiliar with the touch. In that time, the female bodyguard had walked her briskly through the corridors, to the other side of the king's room.

"The princess brought me here last time." Emma raised her chin toward the ventilation hole above the stone wall. "You can see the room from here."

"I forgot that Snow is a master of breaching privacy," Regina snorted disapprovingly, then lowered her eyes and glanced at the hand of the blonde woman who was still holding hers, it was so unbelievably soft for a hunter, "You can let go now, guard."

"Sorry!" Emma immediately retracted her hand. Although she did not find any offensive dissatisfaction on the queen's face, she did not dare to take this unidentified contact for granted. "You can climb up on my shoulder,” she suggested, glancing at Regina's feet. She was still wearing the pearl white flats from last night, but the long skirt blocked the ring of fur at the mouth of the flats and those two thin pale ankles.

"Are you sure?"

"As long as you are not heavier than the princess."

"That‘s impossible!" The queen raised her eyebrows.

Emma squatted down with a smile and patted her shoulder: "Then come on now."

Regina hesitated, and before stepping on the blond’s shoulders, she took off her flats, "Don't wanna dirty your uniform."

The movement made Emma's heart speed up for no reason. The queen was lighter than she expected, and she straightened up easily.

The hem of Regina's long skirt rubbed Emma's cheeks lightly, and what made her even more distracted was the thin ankles clinging to her ears. She had never seen anyone with such beautiful feet. Although knowing that no one was laughing at her, Emma still peeped at the places she shouldn't be looking at with a trace of embarrassment and shame.

"Strange," Regina's confused voice whispered from above, "There is not even a ghost in the room, but I clearly saw that strange man and the king enter the door."

"Maybe they left?" Emma tried to answer.

"Let me down." Regina waited for her feet to land, then put on her flats and quickly walked down the corridor. Emma didn't ask, but carefully and hurriedly followed behind her.

Soon, they returned to the main entrance of the king's chambers.

As soon as the guard saw the queen who had returned, he was taken aback, but immediately resumed his position, "I’m sorry your highness, but I’ve already said that the king is meeting guests, so no one is allowed to enter and disturb him."

This time, Regina didn't say anything and immediately turned away. The guard looked confused but also relieved.

Emma understood. "The king did not leave the room."

"I _did_ see them go in, and they wouldn't have thought to cast an invisibility spell suddenly, right?" Regina mused as she walked.

_They must still be in the house, perhaps in a ‘corner’ that no one can see?_

Leaving the gloomy palace, a cobblestone path led the pair to the imperial garden. They walked silently one after another. The sun was dry and bright in the early winter afternoon, but Regina's anxiety made her feel no warmth at all.

She walked hurriedly, and finally stopped under her tree, "I have been married to this man for eight years. I can recognize his footsteps and distinguish the smell of his body. He doesn't like me wearing red at all. The more painful I am during sex, the more excited he will be on me. But besides that, my husband is no different from any stranger to me. I don’t know him, and he never thought to learn more about a woman he doesn’t care about.” Regina stared blankly at the apple tree she planted when she first entered the palace, her voice trembling, “I don’t know why he married me, or what he wants to do to me. What the child in me means to him, I only know that I have never felt as scared as I am now..." Sudden dizziness hit her. She held the trunk of the tree and tried to suppress the frantic beating of her heart and the tumbling of her thoughts.

"Don't... maybe things are not as bad as you think," Emma whispered she was standing one arm's distance behind her, having an internal battle on whether she should hold the vulnerable-looking brunette in her arms.

The black-haired woman slowly turned around, with a wry smile on her mouth, "Things are not as bad as I think. Yes, I have always comforted myself this way. Otherwise, how do you think I survived through these eight years...?" She closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened her eyes again, the expression on her face became extremely determined. "But I can't lie to myself anymore. I must find a way to figure out what the king is planning! No matter what, I will not let him hurt my child!"

Emma gazed at the black-haired woman quietly. Although she looked delicate and pale, her beautiful brown eyes shone with courage and strength. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, I need you to help me procure something..." Regina replied slowly.


	15. The Coffin

When night fell, Regina once again came to the door of the king's chambers. At this time, the king was discussing military affairs with the ministers. There was no one in the room, so there was no guard. The black-haired woman easily entered her husband's bedroom.

The room was brightly lit, she didn't come here often. In fact, Leopold had never made out with her in his own room.

Regina can probably guess why. On the wall facing the king's grand canopy bed, there was a large oil painting. The portrait is of a beautiful and calm woman sitting on a high-backed chair. Her hands are folded on her knees, and the dark red velvet dress adjoined with threads of gold is gorgeous and noble. Her cheeks are pale and delicate, and her eyebrows are somewhat similar to Snow’s. She was Leopold's original wife, Eva.

It has been more than ten years since her passing, but Regina knew that Eva’s position in the king's heart was far higher than her own.

However, the dark-haired woman didn't come here to be jealous of a dead person. She needed to find some useful clues before her husband returned.

Leopold is not a person with many hobbies. His room was spacious and simple, and there wasn’t much space to search. Regina rummaged through every corner, but couldn't find anything worthy of her attention. While feeling discouraged, she heard heavy footsteps from the door of the room. Then, the door opened. The king was obviously surprised when he saw her, "What are you doing here?"

Regina's heart raced fiercely, but because she had the courage to sneak into the king's room, of course, she has a ready explanation if she were discovered, so she smiled calmly, "Does the wife need a reason to come to their husband's chambers?" she said. Leaning on the mahogany desk in the center of the room, with both arms propped on the desk, the brunette calmly watched as her husband slowly approached, "Why were you so late? I have been waiting for you."

"Why?" The doubt in Leopold's eyes did not abate.

Regina bit her lip lightly, "What do you think?" She skillfully resolved the man’s question with a rhetorical one. She was already familiar with seducing men, but she had never tried her tactics on her husband before.

Leopold does not love her, but his reaction to women was not much different from that of other men.

"Two days in a row?" The doubt in the king's eyes was gradually replaced by surprise. "I have never seen you this horny," There was unhidden irony and contempt in his tone.

"Pregnancy has brought about numerous changes to my body, this is just one of them." Regina pretended not to care. She brushed the long hair scattered on her shoulders, palms slowly sliding along the plump mink fur on the neckline. Sliding down, the black fur made the red nail polish on her nails shone brightly.

Leopold's eyes followed the color and stopped on Regina's chest. Pregnancy had also made her breasts fuller. He suddenly took a step forward, squeezed her shoulders hard, and pressed her backward, "If that was so, why didn’t you go to the guards and let them satisfy you?" He smirked deliberately.

"You mean I shouldn't come to my husband?" Regina’s gaze provocatively met the king’s.

Leopold's breathing became heavier, and the distance between them was closing up, which also made Regina clearly aware that a certain part of his body was becoming harder and harder.

However, something had distracted the king.

The former queen was silently watching everything in the room through the portrait hung on the wall. Leopold hesitated. It was a strange feeling of infidelity. It was clear that Eva had been dead for many years, but he was still not used to making out in front of his dead wife.

Regina also noticed. She didn’t say anything, but simply broke away from her husband’s arms gently and slid sideways smoothly. Leopold’s eyes followed her, and the new angle made him free to have his way without any interference of the portrait on the wall. When he finally pushed his wife on the bed, the thick curtains of the canopy kept everything out.

"Such a slut!" He muttered in a low voice as he thrusted into her abruptly, his large body drenched in a heavy sweat.

"But that’s exactly how you like me... isn’t it?" Regina responded with her eyes closed, hands tightly wrapped around the king’s shoulders.

Leopold had had her wife countless times, but he had never seen such a wanton look on her face. He, like most men, couldn't tell the difference between true and false, and the brunette’s expression was enough to make him feel more burning desire. As he thrusted faster and faster, Regina's arms wrapped tighter and tighter until scarlet nails were embedded in the flesh of the king's back.

"Ow..." The king squeezed her wrists tightly and pressed both her wrists on the top of her head. "Be careful!" he warned.

Regina smiled meekly, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Leopold was about to regain his thrusting when he suddenly felt weak. Before he could think of anything, his body fell limp and collapsed onto Regina's.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

"I need you to help me procure something..." Under the apple tree, the queen looked at the blonde guard for help.

"What is it?"

"You tell me," Regina continued, seeing Emma's puzzled face. "When hunters hunt dangerous beasts, plain bows and arrows are not completely effective. They’ll put potions on the arrows, right?"

Emma nodded. The potion Regina spoke of was an anesthetic made of various plants. As long as the skin was scratched, it could penetrate into the blood, making the animal immediately lose resistance.

"How did you know this?"

"James likes hunting, he told me."

Emma let out an imperceptible hum, "Perhaps he could become a good hunter."

Regina smiled bitterly, "Let him be his prince, As for hunters by my side, you are enough."

"So you want me to get this anesthetic for you? What are you planning to do?"

Regina nodded to the first question, but she did not answer the second. Not long after the huntress gave her the anesthetic, she mixed the colorless and tasteless potion into her red nail polish. 

**——————————** **⋆⋅** **⋅⋆** **——————————**

Regina pushed her husband’s heavy body aside, turned over and sat up, the king’s clothes hung on one of the bed rails. She reached for it and found the parchment easily. Even though she already knew the meaning of the strange words, she still hoped to find something else.

The parchment was yellowed and weathered. The edges were obviously well-worn with age, but the bottom edge was particularly smooth and flat as if it was cut in half by someone. Regina was slightly startled. Was there another half of the parchment?

She put on her clothes, jumped out of the bed, and rummaged through the room with a new sense of urgency, but still found nothing. Even though she knew that the effect of the anesthetic could last for at least an hour, she couldn't help but worry that the king would wake up suddenly, which would make Regina's search futile. After she checked the bottom of the bed and knelt on the floor, she couldn't help but cast a bitter glance at the former queen on the wall. _If this woman hadn't been so short-lived, the king would not have become a widower, and I wouldn’t have had to marry that man!_

The woman on the wall was still silent and at this moment, Regina found the painting a bit strange. It wasn’t the painting itself, but its pure copper frame. The color in the lower-left corner of the frame was brighter than the rest. She walked up to the painting and stared suspiciously, seeing nothing particular standing out. She then stretched out her hand and gently touched the shiny part, but there was still nothing wrong until she added a bit of strength in her hand. There was suddenly a click, and the entire stone wall that hung the painting moved, revealing a dark cave, gloomy cold wind blowing straight from it.

Regina couldn't help taking a step back. Heart beating wildly, she took a few deep breaths, forced herself to calm down, and carefully walked a few steps toward the entrance of the cave, peering inward.

Inside the cave is a narrow passage, paved with bluestone, it was obviously a man-made secret room. The stone path was long, she doesn’t know where it leads. Regina hesitated for a moment, turned and grabbed the candlestick on the table, and stepped into the dark hole without hesitation.

She held the cold wall in one hand and held the candlestick in the other. The floor was damp and slippery, and she walked with extreme caution in every step. The stone path slowly turned into stone steps, Regina felt that she was walking down endlessly. The temperature in the air was getting lower and lower, the breath from her mouth turned into a white fog, but her surroundings were widening. She looked up and saw rough mountains and rocks above her. It turned out that this secret tunnel was connected to a huge cave hidden deep in the ground.

She didn’t know how long she had been walking, but there was a faint light ahead. Regina thought that she had found an exit and she sped up, but as she approached, she realized that this is not the exit, but the end of the secret tunnel. The huge rock inside was hollowed out, forming a stone chamber, and a huge crystal coffin was in the center of the stone chamber. The light she saw was just moonlight reflecting on the surface of the coffin, the source of the light leak unknown.

The cold stone chambers frightened Regina, and the crystal coffin hidden in the secret place had made the atmosphere even ghastlier and terrifying. She didn't know if it was because of cold or fear, but she kept shaking, and the candlelight flickering with her shaking hands.

Regina's first reaction was to run back, but as soon as she turned her head, she stopped again, and after hesitating for a moment, she turned and walked towards the crystal coffin instead. She has a strong feeling that the answers to all that she has been searching for are hidden in the coffin.

Standing in front of the coffin, Regina held the candlestick and stared intently. The flickering firelight covering everything with an unearthly haze. Lying in the coffin was a woman with dark hair. The gorgeous gold-lined dark red velvet dress made Regina's heart tighten. Not long ago, she had seen this dress on the oil painting. Her mind went blank, and her eyes finally fell on the lifeless, pale, and beautiful face in the coffin **——** Queen Eva’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My uploads are more irregular than my grades… anyways enjoy today’s double upload because I’ve no motivation to do anything else :) Thank you so much for the kudos and reviews!


	16. The Ingredient

Regina returned from the secret room to the king's bedroom. Fortunately, Leopold was still sleeping soundly. The brunette quietly undressed and lay back on the bed. She stared at the snoring man in front of her. She had never really understood her husband before, but he had never felt so distant and scary to her at the moment. How many unspeakable secrets are hidden under his tolerant and benevolent mask?

After another moment, Leopold rolled over and woke up. He blinked his eyes, turned around, and saw his wife lying quietly beside him with a start. Although they have been married for eight years, they rarely have the experience of sleeping in the same bed. "Why are you still here?" He faintly asked, a slight trace of embarrassment flashed across his face.

"You fell asleep, Your Majesty."

The king turned his face and glanced at the blood-red scratch on his shoulder. He was vaguely puzzled. He felt that his memories were blurry for some reason, but he couldn't tell why. "You should leave," he said dismissively.

These words were exactly what Regina wanted to hear. She hurriedly put on her clothes, all the while looking for any changes in her husband's expression secretly. After confirming that he hadn't suspected anything, she quickly left the king's chambers.

It was midnight, and there was no one in the secluded corridor. Her pretentious calm fell apart at this moment and Regina collapsed to the ground. Holding onto the cold wall, she started vomiting.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Regina had forgotten how she returned to the bedroom. She was currently lying on the bed, wrapped in a thick duvet. The fireplace was crackling at its fullest, but she still shivered constantly. Even after leaving the secret room for a long time, the cold air in the cave seemed to have penetrated her bones, unable to dispel from her body. Too much anxiety churned in her chest, making her unable to get a wink of sleep.

Suddenly, there was a slight tinking sound from the window. Regina got out of bed in confusion and walked slowly towards the window sill. Through the glass, everything was pitch black. Just when she thought she had misheard, a woman's voice whispered, "It's me. Emma."

The queen was startled for a second, then she quickly opened the window, "I don't remember asking you to come to my room today."

"You didn't," the blonde woman dexterously stepped from the ladder to the window sill, dropping to the chamber floor easily. "But I have something important to tell you," she said solemnly, "I know what the words on the king's parchment are!"

"What?" Regina asked hoarsely. Watching Emma's troubled expression, she swallowed. This was by no means a pleasant conversation. For once, Emma's presence brought more pressure than comfort.

The blonde woman took a deep breath, "It is not just a list of items, but the ingredients for a curse."

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Sitting in a corner table of a dirty and noisy tavern, Emma gulped down tasteless barley wine like she hadn't drunk in a week.

The emissary sent by the king to the front should have brought her brother with him, but only bad news came back with the emissary —— Emma’s eldest brother disappeared after an encounter with the enemy. His body was not found on the battlefield, but he may have been captured or injured. He could've also run away wounded and died in a place no one knew of.

With all kinds of bad thoughts plaguing her mind, Emma simply took a day off, left the palace, hid in a tavern got herself drunk.

In addition to worrying about her elder brother, there was another layer of worries —— if she can't save her elder brother, her betrayal to Regina would not only make her fall into self-blame and guilt… it will also be utterly meaningless.

Just as she brought the mug to her mouth again, a familiar voice suddenly interrupted her: "Oh I _finally_ found you!"

Emma turned around with a hint of drunkness, and a familiar red hair broke into her sight —— it was the girl who had helped her translate the elvish in the bookstore.

"You were looking for me?" Emma raised her eyebrows suspiciously. "If I remember correctly, I've already paid you more than enough." She was not bitter about paying the red-haired girl too much, but because of the money, she had readily sold the leopard’s fangs to people with ulterior motives.

The red-haired girl glanced at the huntress’s face that was reddened by alcohol and decided not to argue, “Yes, fifty gold coins, no more no less,” she paused, “Actually I'm not the one who's looking for you, it's my grandfather. He said that if I ever met you again, I must take you to see him."

"Why is he looking for me?"

"Why don’t you come with me and ask in person?"

Emma hesitated, then finally put down the mug in her hand down.

The huntress followed the red-haired girl back to the bookstore. On the way there, she learnedly that the girl's name is Belle.

The real owner of the bookstore was sitting at the counter this time. He was a very old man with a long white beard on his chin that is more luxuriant than the white hair on his head. When Belle was done translating the elvish text, she left a copy in the store. The old man was now holding the copy, his brows furrowed, and his expression complex.

"This is an incomplete list," he told Emma, a tremor in his old voice. After saying this, he sighed, "No, in fact, this is not an ordinary list, but the ingredients for an ancient curse."

"Curse?" The word made Emma suck in a breath, her drunken haze faded in that instant.

"I saw it on a tome of magic. The tome has been ruined, but I still remember this enchantment clearly. I wish I could be more specific if... if there is anything else on your list…?" The old man's milky eyes stared intently at the blonde woman.

"There is nothing else.” Belle interjected, “ I have copied _all_ the text on the piece of fabric she gave me! I‘ve told you this several times already!" Her voice was somewhat unhappy because of the old man’s apparent lack of trust for her.

"This is dark magic young lady, it is not to be taken lightly. I have to know _everything_ about the parchment. I don't want myself to be an accomplice of evil by accident." The old man gave his granddaughter a sideways glance and then turned to the huntress again, "Are you completely sure you gave my grandaughter _all_ of the text?"

Emma nodded, "I am." She recalled the night she stole the parchment. Although the situation was extremely urgent, she was sure that she did not miss a word on the parchment.

The old man furrowed his eyebrows and looked confused, "Perhaps it is I who worry too much… I hope I was wrong, after all, this is dark magic. It is pure evil. No one should ever touch dark magic."

Emma’s mind had already lost the effects of the wine and at that instant, she was completely sober. She has heard of dark magic before, but those were only rumors, and no one has seen it before. In fact, the king hated sorcery. Years ago he had ordered a boycott of witchcraft. Wizards, sorcerers, necromancers, seers, even the fake ones, were banished from the kingdom.

"If you’re not wrong, what kind of curse is this?" she asked tentatively.

The old man glanced at the blond, parted his lips slightly, and answered her.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

"Curse? What curse?" Regina asked, frowning. The sense of wrongness occupying her heart was getting heavier and heavier.

Emma swallowed, and recited the words of the old man, "This is a spell crafted of dark magic to resurrect the undead."

Regina stood frozen. The mysterious parchment, the secret room, the corpse of the woman in red in the crystal coffin, all the pieces of the puzzle had fallen together and at this very moment, everything was clear. With the cloaked man’s help, Leopold, her husband, was planning to use magic to revive the former queen, the only woman he loved, Eva.

Regina stood there stiffly, not moving, but the expression on her face had obviously frightened the huntress. "What's wrong?" Emma took a step forward, concerned, and asked softly. 

Regina murmured, "Resurrected from the dead, of course, she is whom the king wants most."

"She? What are you talking about?" Emma looked at her questioningly. "Have you already understood the king's intentions?"

Regina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, telling her everything she saw in the secret room.

"Are you sure you saw it right?" Emma was flabbergasted.

Regina smiled bitterly, "I will never forget that face in my life." She walked back to the bed and sank down weakly, "I’ve always thought that my husband was the most heartless person in the world, but it was obviously not true. He was just unable to love me." To be fair, she had never loved him, but if Leopold had treated her a little gently, she might be willing to live as his wife peacefully for her entire life. But unknowingly she had fallen victim to the most failed marriage of all the realms. After marrying her for eight years, her husband was still obsessed with resurrecting his former wife. And a kingdom does not need two queens.

Emma understood Regina’s embarrassment and humiliation, but this is not what she worries the most at the moment, “The curse still needs the most important ingredient...” She found it hard to speak, unwilling to make the already devastated brunette endure a more brutal blow. But this important secret had to be told.

Hearing the heaviness in her tone, Regina turned her face to look at her, sadness mixed with anxiety churning within her dark brown eyes.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

In the dark secret room, Regina, who’s breath had gradually returned from her shocked stupor, finally tore her gaze away from the face of the female corpse in the crystal coffin. She saw a small altar at the front of the coffin. An exquisite box carved from ebony was resting on it. She hesitated and opened the box carefully. In the box was the missing half of the parchment.

The parchment was folded into a square, and Regina gently unfolded the paper. There were no words on it, only a simple illustration —— it was a heart, pierced by a dagger. She doesn’t know what paint was used to draw the illustration, but even on weathered parchment, faded with age, its bright crimson color shone like blood, making the eyes of the dark-haired woman sting.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

"Is it a heart?" Regina heard her trembling voice asking.

The huntress nodded, she swallowed, "Yes, a heart."

"Whose heart?"

Emma was silent for a second, and replied with difficulty, “The heart of the newborn of the sorceress who spun straw into gold.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, the last bit was a mouthful, I have no idea how to translate it properly…
> 
> Thank you for the kind comments!
> 
> Next on Defection: Regina runs again.


	17. The Elk

It’s Snow’s birthday. War was raging between the two kingdoms, so the princess’s birthday wasn’t celebrated with its usual flare. However, Leopold knew that his daughter had been in a low mood recently, so regardless of the war ahead, he commanded a huge masquerade ball to be thrown for the princess.

The halls of the palace were decorated with flowers of all kinds, the fragrant scent affecting the mood of the dressed-up attendees. Although the dance floor was extremely crowded, everyone's spirits were high.

Snow was wearing a gorgeous lace dress. She was hugging his father’s arm and trying to squish herself beside the king on his throne and giggling like a toddler. Obviously, apart from Regina, neither father nor daughter felt that such a move would be too intimate for an 18-year-old girl.

The murky air in the ballroom made Regina nauseous. The brunette sat quietly in the queen's throne, staring ahead but not looking, like a pretty doll. She intended to ignore the conversation between her husband and Snow amidst the boisterous music, but one sentence caught her attention.

"Is your new guard not doing her job properly? Where is she?" the king asked.

Snow frowned, "The elk in the imperial garden seems to be more ill than ever. I told her to stay with it. I do not want to see a dead animal when I walk around the gardens tomorrow morning." She side-eyed her stepmother intentionally, scorn dripping from her voice, "Some creatures really don't know how to appreciate the good life in our palace."

Regina turned her head away, pretending not to care about the obvious sarcasm in the princess's tone.

"You should go dancing," The king tried to cheer his daughter up, "No one dances better than you."

Snow frowned, "But those dancing partners are so stupid!"

Regina suddenly spoke for the first time that evening, "Your Majesty, why don't you accompany Snow? Shouldn't the father accompany her birthday girl for her first dance tonight?"

This is obviously a good suggestion, and even Leopold, who has never been interested in dancing, could not refuse it. So he took his daughter's hand and stepped onto the dance floor.

While the king was engrossed in dancing with his daughter, Regina quietly left. She did not leave the palace, but went to the top floor. Because of this, the two guards who were always watching behind her did not follow.

The bedroom and the meeting hall are two independent palaces, connected by a stone corridor between the two. People rarely walk here.

The dark-haired woman opened the cobweb-covered iron door on the top floor with great effort. The biting cold wind blew her face, making her chest tighten. _Or was it nerves?_ Through the inky night, she saw fine snowflakes flying all over the sky. The first snow of this year chose to come tonight without any warning.

Regina had only worn a long silver low-cut satin dress for the ball, it didn’t offer any warmth but she had bigger problems than the cold. The dark-haired woman hugged herself tightly as she hurried across the corridor and soon came to the top floor of the palace, bits and pieces of snowflakes hung in her hair and on her dress.

There was an iron gate on the top floor of the palace that connects to a stairwell. The day before, Regina had secretly unlocked the gate. Now she only needs to open the door and run all the way through the stairs to her chambers, change her clothes, and her prepared luggage, then leave the palace.

Most of the guards and servants in the palace were attracted by the ball in the chamber, not to mention there was an upcoming fireworks display after the ball, which drew everyone's attention. Ever since learning Snow’s birthday ball plans, Regina had planned an escape on this day. This was her only chance! She might be caught before even reaching the gate of the palace, and might still be found even if she escaped the palace by chance might, but she must try, otherwise she would never forgive herself.

She could be a puppet queen for a lifetime, but she could not let anyone hurt her child! She may look soft and not aggressive on the surface, but on the inside, she is as determined as a lioness guarding her cub.

The heart of the child of the sorceress who spun straw into gold. The most critical material in the resurrection spell.

Although Regina had never thought of herself as a sorceress, for some reason the cloaked man managed to make the king believe that she was the person he was looking for. He never wanted her, only her child. The heart of her son.

In order to resurrect his ex-wife, Leopold would happily sacrifice the life of her child. This was something that Regina would never condone.

The brunette stretched out her arm to push the rusty iron door. What she didn't expect was that the iron door didn't budge at all, she couldn't open it. She took a deep breath and pushed a few more times with all her might, but her efforts were in vain. Obviously, somebody had locked the lock of the iron door again. This completely disrupted her escape plan.

The wind was getting stronger and the snow falling heavier. Regina started to panic. She couldn't go downstairs, but she doesn’t want to go back either, so she was trapped on the top floor of the palace. Regina tried to suppress her despair, and she suddenly remembered something. She rushed to the abandoned clock tower. In a hidden corner, the brunette found what she needed —— the soft ladder James used to reach her room. The same ladder the huntress once used to visit the queen's chambers.

The ladder was long enough to reach her room, it is on the second floor. Regina had never noticed whether the ladder is enough to reach the ground, but now is certainly not the time to hesitate. The dark-haired woman lifted the ladder to the railing and threw it out. Then, she stepped up over the railing cautiously and grabbed the ladder.

The snow was falling heavier than ever, and the howling north wind swayed the ladder to and fro against the stone walls, Regina's dress was waving wildly in the air, like a bird eager to break free, she grasped the ropes on both sides of the ladder for dear life, terrified of the possibility of falling to pieces.

She dare not look down, but stared at the stone wall centimeters in front of her, as she climbed down with step by step with great difficulty. Because of her nerves, both arms have quickly become sore and her breathing became more and more rapid. Finally, she saw the window sill of her room, and there was her luggage beside the bed. However, she didn’t open the windows, and now had no way to get her stuff. She could only continue to climb. Suddenly after a few steps, her feet hit the air, there were no rails left. The ladder has reached its end. 

Regina’s heart dropped. She turned her head carefully and glanced under her feet, but saw nothing but darkness. She raised her head and glanced at the window sill on the second floor and calculated that she was at least two or three meters away from the ground. In normal circumstances, she could try to jump off, the snow was heavy enough to break her fall. However, now she has to worry about her baby, and whether her pregnant body can withstand the impact of this jump. Just as the brunette was hesitating, a dazzling light pierced the sky, followed by a loud bang, and a colorful firework exploded in the sky. The sudden loud noise startled Regina, and she let go of the ladder, subconsciously trying to cover her ears. Before she realized her mistake she began to fall…… 

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Emma walked briskly towards the palace gate, a torch in one hand and the reins of her tall black horse in the other. A guard greeted her before she was even close to the gates, "Halt, who goes there?”, his tone was filled with extreme impatience. After all, everyone else was drinking wine and watching the fireworks at the princess’s birthday party, but he had to guard the gates out in the cold, he was obviously not happy.

Emma stopped, "I’m going out of the palace." The huntress showed her identification token to the guard. She pointed to the wooden cart dragged by her horse. The cart was loaded with something, covered hastily with rags.

"What is this?" The soldier stared at the pile on the wooden cart with a puzzled face. One corner of the rags was raised high up by two branch-like objects.

The huntress simply lifted a corner of the cloth. It was the ailing elk. It was lying motionless on the wooden board, eyes half-open, lifelessly reflecting the light of the torch. The branch-like abjects are its two big antlers. "I’m taking this big guy out of the palace. After all, the princess likes lively creatures, not cold corpses. If she sees it tomorrow morning, I'm afraid we will all be scolded."

Of course the soldier knew that the princess kept a lot of animals in her imperial garden, so he didn’t hesitate to step aside.

The blonde woman took up the reins and just took the horse to walk out a few steps. Suddenly, she heard the soldiers from behind shout again, "Halt!" he strode up, frowning, staring at the bottom of the wooden cart, "Didn’t you say that the elk died of illness? Why is there so much blood?" Crimson stains littered the thick whiteness on the ground. Bright red blood dripped on the snow, dazzling and unusual.

Emma gave a wry smile and scratched her head, "Actually," she said. "The elk was dying of illness, but it was suffering. It’s so cold in the evening and I have no desire to stay in the garden all night and wait, so I kinda helped it go. To be honest, it was a good thing for it. It won’t survive tonight, why not suffer less?” She showed the soldier a bloody gap on the elk's neck, "Only one cut here, I didn't let it suffer for long."

The soldier knew that the only female guard in the palace was a hunter before, and she knew better than him about dealing with animals. "Well, you can go now. And make haste, wouldn’t want to stain the ground here more." He waved her on impatiently.

Emma left the palace. She led her horse through the streets and the outer city unhurriedly, walking towards the depths of the woods, and finally stopped by a small lake.

She turned around and lifted the rags. The elk's head hung weakly onto the side of the wheel. The bloody wound on its neck had stopped bleeding for a long time, but there was still blood dripping from the cart. It turned out that there was a bigger hole in the stomach of the elk.

"Coast’s clear." The huntress said quietly.

As soon as she finished speaking, a thin, blood-stained arm suddenly stretched out from the hole, and then, a blood-soaked figure rolled out of the elk's belly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the reviews and kudos... It makes me happy to know that someone enjoys the story.


	18. The Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y’all, it’s been a while. I’ve taken a break from editing and fic-writing to try and focus on my messy life cuz things have been stressful as hell and my mental health just couldn’t take it :) Anywayzz thank you for all the follows/favs on fanfiction.net and the kudos/comments on ao3! Y’all have no idea how happy it makes me feel when I get a notification about this fic. It still amazes me to think that somewhere in the world, y’all are enjoying a story that I had created in the weekends on a couch in the darkness of midnight using a bright screened eye-killing laptop while sipping cups of hot cocoa with cinnamon. I hope y’all continue to support this fic even though I don’t update regularly(sorry for that btw, just a heads-up: I might not be able to update very often cuz exams are around the corner, again). Thanks again and love y’all! ~RL

The wind howled in her ears as Regina fell from the ladder. She braced herself for the snow’s cold and harsh embrace. But to her astonishment, she didn’t land on the hard ground, but onto something soft, and warm.

"You?" After she recovered from her bewilderment, Regina saw through the dark sky lit by fireworks the face of the huntress, whose expression was distorted by pain. "How are you here? Snow said you were playing nanny for a sick elk."

"Oh, you are _way_ heavier than I thought." The blonde woman ignored the queen lying flat on her torso and instead was rubbing her chest, looking badly winded.

Regina hurriedly got up from the ground. Her landing posture may not be graceful, but thankfully it wasn't painful at all because of her free cushion of huntress. "Why did you just show up here?" she asked, alert.

"I saw a strange kite flying against the wall while I was walking by, didn't realize it was you until I got close. Thank goodness it was I who found you and not someone else." Emma muttered as nonchalantly as she could. Actually, for the past few days, she had been watching Regina discreetly. She knew the brunette must be secretly brewing a plan of sorts, and sure enough, she tried to escape again.

"I was just fooling around, I was getting bored," Regina muttered, pretending to be calm. She couldn't find a reasonable excuse to explain her actions but didn't want to reveal her plan either.

"Stop pretending, Your Highness, you aren't good at lying, and I am no fool. I know you want to escape to protect your child." Emma said calmly.

Unable to deny the accusation, Regina simply turned her back on the huntress. If she had to think of someone she would be the least willing to get caught by, it will have to be the blond. Because it was the huntress whom she had idiotically trusted the last time, the huntress who had deceived her and handed her back to the king on a silver platter.

The sound of bursting fireworks had finally stopped, meaning that the princess’s birthday party was about to end. The crowd would soon disperse, and someone would soon discover that the queen was missing. There was little time left for Regina.

Just as she was hesitating on whether to return to the hall as if nothing had happened or continue her escape plan, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by the huntress, and she was led by her in the direction of the imperial garden, "What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" The dark-haired woman asked in a low voice.

"If we want to make plans on going out of the palace, we should at least discuss somewhere more discreet," Emma said as she walked briskly without stopping.

Finally, they stopped at a corner of the garden, near their feet, there was a large dark object lying down, emitting heavy breathing sounds. Regina bent down and squinted —— it turned out that it was the ill elk that she had fed a few days ago.

"So… you planning to run away dressed like this?" Emma sized up the dark-haired woman in her silky gown, the hem was damp with snow and ice. "I bet you will freeze to death long before you reach the town."

"Don't say it as if you care," Regina said angrily, "or you can wait for me to escape before catching me again and take me back to the king, and this time, don't forget to ask him for a higher award. "

For a second, Emma’s eyes shone with an emotion akin to hurt. Regina was taken aback but immediately told herself that she must have seen wrong.

"I thought you had forgiven me." The blonde woman's voice was soft and hesitant.

"I thought so too. Until I found out that I was a part of some elaborate evil magic scheme that had to kill off my unborn child! I was really working hard to stop myself from blaming you for your betrayal. But every time I think of being trapped in this terrible palace again, it leads back to your self-righteous justice, so I can’t help but hate you!” Regina tried her best to suppress her voice, but the burning fire in her chest did not diminish the slightest. Her voice was trembling, and her eyes were filled to the brim with tears until the huntress was only a blurry outline, "If the king does succeed in ripping out the heart of my child to resurrect his dead wife, then remember this, _Emma Swan_ , _you_ also had a hand in this terrible affair!"

The blonde woman stood straight there, accepting the hurtful words spat at her without saying a word. Suddenly, she raised her left hand, gripping a hunting knife tightly, its sharp blade glinted under the moonlight. Regina froze and stared.

“What are you going to do?” the brunette’s voice was shrill with terror.

"You know you can't get out of the palace in this," Emma said, and suddenly squatted down. Before the royal could react, the sharp knife had pierced the elk's neck. The poor guy didn't even make a sound, it kicked its hind legs and went limp.

"What are you doing!" Regina was horrified.

Emma didn't speak. She pulled out a sharp knife. Maroon blood spewed out and stained the whiteness of the ground. She continued to swing the knife and made a big cut in the belly of the elk. Regina watched in shock as the huntress swiftly dug out the internal organs of the elk, redness coating the bright snow underneath the elk’s body.

"Done," Emma said as she wiped her red-stained hands on the snow and looked up at the dark-haired woman, whose eyes were still wide with shock, "Get in." She pointed to the hollowed belly of the elk.

Regina quickly understood the huntress’s plan. "Why are you helping me?" she couldn’t guess Emma’s intentions. “This is treason. Do you know what will happen to you if you were to be caught?"

"It’s pointless for me to explain to you why I am helping you because not even I understand what I’m doing right now. So get in right now before I change my mind!” Emma grouched and gestured again.

Regina took a second to make up her mind, then began to undress quickly. She first took off her huge and cumbersome skirt, and then kicked off her heels. When she was left wearing only a petticoat she got on her knees and started crawling into the slippery corpse of the elk, trying not to retch as the cold stinging wind in her face turned into the hot stench of the elk’s belly.

The huntress’s voice sounded soft and distant, “You alright in there?"

"I'm fine." Taking a deep breath, Regina finally fit her whole body into the belly of the elk. She shuddered as Emma brought the two halves of the elk’s skin together and encased the brunette in stinking darkness.

After deciding that the brunette was somewhat covered, the huntress immediately got to work. She buried the blood and clothes into the ground using dead leaves and snow and brought from the stables a horse and an empty cart. She then proceeded to smuggle the corpse of the elk and its stowaway out of the palace.

——————————⋆⋅ ⋅⋆——————————

Regina finally got out of the belly of the already cold corpse of the elk. She was covered in blood, arms hugging tightly to her chest, and she was shivering in the cold wind.

Emma took off her leopard pelt cloak and draped it over the brunette. This time, Regina did not shrug it off, "Now what?" She barely managed to force out the two syllables through the chattering of her teeth.

Emma picked up the rags, tore off a corner, and soaked it thoroughly with the lake water. She then knelt down on one knee and cupped Regina’s chin with one hand, using the damp cloth to carefully wipe the brunette’s face clean of the crusting deer blood, concentrating on the stains and not meeting Regina’s inquiring gaze. When her face was mostly clean, the blond woman threw the red-stained linen onto the ground, then tightened the collar of the leopard pelt cloak around the dark-haired woman’s slim shoulders and pulled its hood over her head, "It’s getting late, with luck no one would question you with a hood on at night."

"What do you mean? Where are we going?" Regina was still trembling, with cold and probably fear. She suddenly started to regret her decision. At this moment she was covered in blood and half-naked. She had no one except the huntress, but she still could not completely trust this blonde woman after their last adventure.

"Back to the town." Emma's answer naturally roused the queen's doubt. They’ve finally got out of the city, why would she want to go back? The huntress must’ve seen her questioning expression, as she patiently explained, "The king must’ve already discovered that you are missing. You ran once, and the soldiers he sent think they know where you will run again. If we enter the woods right now, it will be like walking into our deaths. What they would never expect is that we did not flee, but instead hid in a town not far from the palace."

Regina couldn't think of any reason to refute this plan, so she sighed, "I guess we’ll do as you say then."

Emma glanced at the brunette, "To be honest, I think I quite admire my wittiness, aren’t you going to praise me?" the blond smirked briefly to show she was joking.

"We didn't escape the danger, did we?" The queen was still shivering violently, but it didn't affect her ability to roll her eyes. 

Emma shrugged. She untied the cart from the horse and pushed it, along with the elk’s stiff corpse, into the lake. After a few air bubbles and a gurgling sound, nothing was left on the surface except for a circle of ripples.

Regina stared blankly at the lake’s smooth surface, "It died because of me."

Emma knows she was talking about the elk. "Don't be so sentimental, it will not do you any good. The elk was not used to living in the palace, it was very sick, and not getting better at all. Now that it has saved you, it might’ve gotten a worthy end."

Regina knows that half of this statement is true, and the other half might be driven by comfort. She chuckled somewhat bitterly, "A worthy end, I'm afraid it doesn't think so."

"Perhaps you can spend a little more time mourning its sacrifice when we are really safe. But right now let's make haste, there’s not much light left." Emma waved the rein at the darkening sky and beckoned Regina to climb on. After the dark-haired woman had sat firmly on the saddle, she also mounted effortlessly.

"Hiya!" With a cry of command, the black horse neighed and galloped swiftly in the direction of the city gate.

Regina clutched both sides of the cloak tightly, but the cold wind still poured in from the gaps mercilessly. The only thing that comforted her was the huntress’s chest warmly pressed against her back, emitting strands of heat that her shivering body desperately craves.

After traveling for more than half an hour, they stopped in front of a small inn. But Emma didn't enter the store immediately. She led the horse to an alley behind the inn, took out a mirror and a small cloth bag, turned her back to Regina and after busying for a while, turned back around.

The dark-haired woman was taken aback by the strange yet familiar stubble-faced hunter, "Is this really necessary?"

"Of course it is, the princess's guard has disappeared with the queen. I think the king can connect the dots pretty quickly. His guards are looking for two women. Now, we don't fit this clue anymore, right? "

"Well, this does make sense." Regina paused for a moment, and added a little unwillingly, "You are very thoughtful."

"Ah, so you are finally willing to praise me." If the messy stubble hadn't blocked most of Emma's face, Regina would definitely be able to see the woman's radiant smile.

The two entered the inn together. In the lowlight of the kerosene lamp, a woman was lazily dozing behind the greasy counter, her chin propped up with one hand. The arrival of the guests awakened her from her sleep.

"Oh, welcome."

"A clean upper room," Emma dropped a silver coin on the table. "My horse is outside. Find someone to take care of it."

"No problem." The woman quickly put the silver coin into her pocket. She then glanced at Regina, who was hiding behind Emma, wrapped in the thick cloak.

"You are together?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, she is my wife." Emma stretched out her arm and wrapped it loosely around Regina's stiff shoulder, "Now stop asking questions and take us to our room quickly. We’ve journeyed for days, and my wife needs a rest."

Regina had lost the ability to think after Emma said the ‘w’ word, probably because of tension. Everything after that was a blur, and when she had recovered from her stupor, the brunette found herself standing on a carpet in front of the fireplace in the guest room.

"I hope I didn't offend you by saying that," the blonde woman gently pushed back Regina's hood.

"By saying I'm your wife?" The dark-haired woman shrugged. "To be honest, I would rather just be an ordinary hunter's wife than to be a queen." After speaking, she realized that this might cause some unnecessary misunderstanding, and her face couldn't help but feel a little hot. So she took a step closer to the fireplace, using the firelight to cleverly cover the redness on her cheeks.

Emma didn't notice the brunette's behavior. She knelt down and threw a few pieces of wood into the fireplace to make the fire even burn with more vigor. Then, she stood up and smiled at Regina, "I know what you need." she turned around and rushed out of the room.

Left alone, Regina stared uneasily at the fire for what felt like a century but was in reality only ten minutes. Just when she felt that she couldn’t bear it anymore, the door was kicked open and the blonde woman came in carrying a big tub, with several buckets behind her in the corridor. The wooden tub was filled with steaming hot water.

"This inn doesn't have a bathroom, the owner said that we have to take our baths in our rooms," Emma said as she put the tub down, she then brought the buckets in repeatedly and poured all the water into the tub. Soon, everything was set up, "What you want most is a hot bath, did I guessed it right?" She smiled triumphantly.

The corners of Regina's mouth rose. The dry deer blood made her skin itch uncomfortably, and she couldn't wait to get herself cleaned. The woman took off the cloak as quickly as possible, but the straps of her petticoat were tied behind her back. She needed the help of a maid every time she put it on and off, and Emma was more than happy to temporarily replace this job. She carefully cut apart the strips of cloth, stiff with frozen soaked blood, with the tip of her rapier. Petticoats are not needed when fleeing from the kingdom.

When Regina finally slipped into the hot water, she couldn't help but let out a moan of contentment. Whether or not she could finally escape Leopold's pursuit remains to be seen, but nothing can top the wonderful feeling of warmth against her cold skin at this very moment.


End file.
